I Lived My Life In Gold
by VenusUnchained
Summary: We've seen the story told so many times from the eyes of Serenity or Endymion of the Silver Millennium- we all know the story so well- from their point of view. This follows Kunzite through the more raw and less fluffy side we all know the story and how the fall from grace mixed with forbidden romance and betrayal lend much different perspectives. See "I Lived My Life In Silver"
1. Chapter 1

Her dark eyes shifted between the amber, almost golden eyes of the woman shrieking on the bed before her, to the stoic and cold Sultan who lounged lazily on the other side of the room. He busied himself with one of his many wives on his lap, completely unphased by the chaos that had broken out over the past hours in the small bedroom while two more of his wives in addition to herself tended to who should have been his most prized wife.

"She needs a real doctor!" Zara remembered urging, pleading with the large man who barely blinked, only sitting back in defiance with his arms crossed over his chest while a woman who could barely be described as pretty sat on his knee and stroked his thick black beard. The Sultan's wives rushed frantically around the tiny room, the poor woman they worked over focused her grip on Zara's shaking hand as though she could somehow transfer some of her pain onto the older woman. If she could have, she would have gladly accepted it.

Tahira screamed again, grasping at Zara's hand trying to breathe the way she told her to. Fear was absent in her face which grew pale in comparison to her unflawed sunkissed skin. Her silken black hair was matted and plastered to her angelic face and it made Zara afraid for her. Zara had stayed in servitude to the Sultan out of pure fear for decades, watching the brutish man take wife after wife without ever bearing a son. The Sultan was a horrid man for more reasons than Tahira's misery, for more than his decimation of her own life- though Zara would say this day was what made him a monster.

Tahira was a great beauty from a neighboring country. She was still young and mysterious with amber colored eyes and long waves of the blackest silk for hair. As one of the Sultan's many wives, she exhibited a kindness and generosity that his other wives lacked and a free spirit that ultimately attracted their tyrant of a ruler. The Sultan sought to break her spirit, ripping her from her family and forcing her hand as his wife. She'd been raped repeatedly and beaten, and yet Tahira's spirit never broke. Zara remembered dancing with her in celebration when she found that she was with child, the younger girl announcing that she would have the most beautiful Son that ever lived. That he would be strong, a great and a powerful King, beloved by his people. Zara thought perhaps she told herself this because it would make her feel better about the child conceived by force by the very King that brought the two women so much pain. The Mother's easy smile and bright eyes told her that it was merely a Mother's hope for her Son.

She knew that Tahira clung to this even now, her frantic eyes meeting hers again before the Mother clenched her eyes and shrieked. Zara refused to leave her side, ignoring the pain in her bones from hard grasp she held on her hand. The two women had each other if nothing else, the vanity and fear of the other wives kept them divided with untold jealousy that the newest wife would give the Sultan a Son.

"Push.." She urged Tahira quietly, pressing a wet cold rag on the woman's forehead. She took a breath and complied with another shrill scream. They had been at this for hours, Zara became concerned that there was more blood than there should have been, too much pain, and yet the Sultan was contented to sit back in near boredom without bothering to supply an inch of concern or even a needed call for a doctor. "Push" She urged again after a few moments, fighting the urge to glare at her Sultan. She'd seen servants killed for less.

The night was waning when one of the other wives called out, and a strong cry was heard after a few longer moments of Tahira's hoarse screams. The mother was pale, and yet she smiled weakly. Her lip quivered, arms reaching out shakily to silently ask for what she always knew would be her Son, even if no one else knew.

"Shhh... rest a moment, I'll retrieve him for you." Zara whispered, motioning for one of the wives to bring Tahira some water. As she stepped away, flexing her hand that had almost been crushed during the labor, her black eyes widened when they fell on the crying baby in one of the wife's arms as he was cut from his chord. A younger girl began to clean him off with a towel Zara hoped was clean, and it took her a moment to accept what she was seeing.

His skin was consistent with that of their people, darkened by a Sun he hadn't met yet and a bit red from being so new. The boy had a lot of hair and somehow the fine hairs that marked his head were a stark silver shade. Seemingly a small concern but instead of the standard deep black or brown standard to their people, it wasn't blonde or red- but silver. It could scarcely be called grey or white, there was a luminocity to it even in its dampened state that prevented such a bland description. Zara stepped forward to gather the baby from the wife who began to shout at the Sultan that his Son was a Bastard, or abomination.

The woman was dealt with swiftly by the hard slap of the back of his hand across her face, yelling curses at her while she fell to the floor in customary tears. Zara had more important matters to tend to, and stepped slowly back to the Mother with her Son who had calmed his cries. A shame really that the Sultan was so monstrous, he had been handsome long ago, turned rounder around his strong frame, face masked with anger always since in his gluttony nothing was ever enough. Zara knew Tahira would have rather shared the moment with a loving husband, been made wife to a gracious King.

Tahira gladly accepted the baby from her arms, both ignoring the chaos that continued to erupt behind them with tearful smiles. The babe was beautiful, eyes a light grey though Zara had a notion that they would not darken as he grew in the coming weeks but remain the slate grey that they appeared now, if anything they would sharpen and become much clearer. She could see that Tahira was fading, her lips a pale white shade, quivering with tears perhaps because she knew that she would leave her Son far too soon. Zara fought tears of her own, not knowing how to help the Mother who had only just met her child.

The Sultan nearly slipped on blood that continued to drip onto the floor in his haste to see the abominable child. Tahira still had it in her brilliant soul to smile up at the baby's father, who sneered at the silver hairs on his head that stood out against his reddish skin. The Sultan thought he was immortal and while the thought of a Son brought him pride, he talked of never relinquishing his throne. He pulled a large knife from his belt, Tahira far too weak to fight it, and Zara didn't dare interfere out of purely selfish fear.

"Ghost child!... demon child!" The Sultan growled in a primitive manner he had about him, his eyes two glowing black coals of hatred at the bundle currently suckling hungrily at his Mother who could scarcely keep her eyes opened. Tahira held the baby closer as if to shield him, proving ineffective the weaker she got. Zara knew she would be lost in mere moments, panic rising to her dark eyes when they met the mother's amber colored ones that became so bright with a sudden determination at the sight of his blade. It was as though some untold prophecy was whispered to Tahira as her gaze sharpened. The older woman left to watch with wide and frightened eyes as fate seemingly intervened between the Sultan's blade and the young wife who's spirit had yet to be broken even in her final moments. Tahira didn't fear the knife's edge, but offered protection to the boy she loved so very much.

"You will call him Kunzite..." Her voice was a mere breath, and it was enough to halt the knife before the Sultan could bring it down upon Mother and Child. "He is my Kunzite... my one true love... Kunzite..." No one even regarded the Sultan who fell back, dropping his knife to the bloodstained floor. Zara's eyes were locked on Tahira who stared back at her, who was already dead.

Kunzite's cries were all she could hear and yet she could scarcely gather herself enough to pull him from his Mother's arms. The Sultan stared wide eyed at the dead woman on the bed, still wrapped in fine silks, still not asking after his son who now had a name. There were legends about names in the Four Kingdoms about Kings to rise from them, named for prominent and meaningful stones and the attributes they possessed. Something about Heaven-born beings mating with humans to create something unique and magical which lead Zara to think perhaps Tahira was a true Angel. Kunzite was perhaps the most important stone of that time, a pale pink stone that spoke of connectivity of souls and true love, a bond between Mother and child as well as soulmates.

"Clean this up." The Sultan bit at her with a cold growl, glaring at Zara with the screaming baby in her arms he seemed to no longer acknowledge. She sniffled, nodding affirmatively with hope that Middle Eastern ruler would just leave them be for a moment. It wasn't until his imposing frame left the room that she began her work.

"You!" She pointed at one of the younger brides who peered back fearfully. "Find a proper Midwife right away- this baby needs milk. Go!" The girl ran off toward the town, leaving Zara to begin barking her orders for the blood to be cleaned and the body moved to a cooler location. If she could do anything for the poor woman, so beloved by their people, it was to see that she receive proper burial. She knew the Sultan would sooner toss her remains to desert scavengers, if nothing else than for giving birth to this rather remarkable looking child.

Zara stayed with Kunzite. Too old to act as a proper Mother already, she took it upon herself to hire the Midwife to stay with them and provide the baby with nourishment. The Sultan wouldn't know better, for he kept his fortunes for himself while the rest of their people starved and as long as she conducted her duties as head of his house staff she would be safe. Judging by the haunted look on his face when the babe was named, she knew that Kunzite would not go forgotten by him. Zara scribed a letter that night, to the dignitary of their people that resided in Elysium as their Kingdom's representation to the throne. If there was anyone on the planet that could provide the child with protection, it was Earth's so very gracious King.

Whispers through their city of Kunzite's birth did not speak of abomination, but of Angelic descent based on his poor Mother, and the beauty of his features. Days passed, and as Zara thought, his eyes did not darken, his hair grew ever more vibrant and his features a bit clearer. Their Sultan relented for the moment on delivering the child to his mother in death though it was a daily threat that had her keeping Kunzite tucked safely in her room. Otherwise the Sultan would have to kill her as well and Zara found herself with a courage she hadn't had before. If she was to die protecting this child, it would be an honorable death. It was a mere tense few days before Elysium returned her prayers.

Zara shifted the sleeping bundle in her arms, juggling the constant wiping of tears to accept the urgent message from Elysium. She sniffled, speaking her gratitude to the armored guard in a language he would no doubt not understand. The parchment wrinkled in her shaking hand, rough scroll in their language from the dignitary for their country outlining wishes from the King of Earth himself. The Sultan would not be pleased.

Zara watched the guard load the body of Kunzite's Mother into a horse drawn transport. She held surprisingly well in the cool cellar beneath the palace but it brought her to tears to know that King Adrian specifically asked that her body be buried in Elysium Fields, that the Sultan was under strict orders to not harm a hair on Kunzite's head and Zara was to send letters on his progress through the years. The King had even sent his own doctor to examine the baby, pleased to hear that little Kunzite was stronger than strong as far as infants went. She wasn't an educated woman, but knew the stories about Elysium and the Guardians of the Four Realms, Four Heavenly Kings- the Shitennou. She also wasn't daft so the older woman was quick to connect the dots of the Elysian King's suspicions.

The rest of the world had always thought Elysian Royalty was a little crazy. They defended their stance with the Moon Goddess and Zara had never paid it all much mind until now. All she knew in that moment when Kunzite stared up at her, wide eyed and somewhat knowing, that this boy was special.

The years that went by were tense ones. The Sultan was not pleased by the arrangement with Elysium and was fast to start a war as a temper tantrum in defiance of his King. Zara was never allowed to have children of her own, often fearful that her lack of maternal instinct was far more harmful than good to Kunzite who spoke rather well by the age of three. The Sultan was absent, and Kunzite was left to tutors and given the smallest wooden sword to begin training with. Child's play really so Zara told herself, but Kunzite's eyes were too cold for a child's and absent father or no- she knew that the boy saw his Father's shortcomings and sometimes felt them.

It wasn't uncommon for Zara to find Kunzite with a black eye or the impression of fingers bruised into his skin. He fell mute shortly into his fourth year because the boy was relentlessly inquisitive, always asking questions. He would sing loudly and entertain the older maids of the house, he brought a life that had been lost when Tahira died back and the Sultan stole his voice, but did not break his spirit.

Kunzite was smart, his skill with a pen more than made up for his lack of skill with the voice he refused to utilize. He was more literate than some of the adults in the palace, and spent more time watching the Sultan's armies train than indulging in the studies of the Planetary Relations around them. He listened, and seemed to hear with an awareness of his surroundings that set Zara on edge, there was no hiding anything from the small Prince since he was ever so silent.

She continued her correspondence to the King of Elysium who began to communicate with her directly as opposed to through a translator. Kunzite was nearly turning five when King Adrian sent her a letter that took her breath away.

 _"Dear Zara,_

 _I hope this finds you well in the heat of the Summer Months. We are preparing to welcome our own Prince into the world and the thought has befallen me more than once that the coming of the Four Kings has been upon us perhaps since your first letter about Kunzite's arrival. I am planning to offer your young Sultan sanctuary here in Elysium since your last letter describes not a child, but a man._

 _I fear Kunzite's exposure to the abuse he has been subjected to, as well as the Sultan's rather inappropriate behaviors toward women in his presence will only further damage the boy in his upbringing. It will be decided if he is a Legendary King or if he will be returned to the Middle East after a proper education and training here amongst other boys somewhat near his age. A boy of five years does not need to mingle with the likes of your Army's generals and no one else his own age. Certainly not a father who beats his own heir- it does not sit well in the ideals that I strive so hard to reflect to our Interplanetary Partner. Nor does it raise fruitful heirs. Your devotion to him will earn your place beside us here so you can continue to care for him, if you wish._

 _Your Ever Faithful King,_

 _Crown of the Golden Rose; Adrian"_

The letter was promptly burned of course, but a new hope blazed within the older woman who swept the sand from the palace's beige marble floors with a light hum and extra sway in her full hips. Zara was a homely woman, perhaps once beautiful before the Sultan took her for a servant the way he took everything, against her will. Her back was hunched from carrying heavy pails of water and leaning over a laundry tub for too long and grey had begun to seep its way into her thick, coarse black hair which was always worn in a braid over her shoulder. Zara took joy as it came which wasn't often between silent hours with Kunzite as he studied.

Words of war clung to the air around them constantly. Their people were poor and starving, becoming more desperate by the day as it was bad enough that they lived in fear on top of it all. A neighboring tribe was the threat this week, a threat the rash Sultan welcomed with arrogance. Against orders from the Golden Kingdom, their ruler gathered his armies and marched without a backwards glance at the Son he left behind.

Kunzite stood beside Zara, his grey eyes untelling of emotion really. He'd stopped holding his Nanny's hand though she missed his small hand in hers. He refused to allow her to cut his hair, already nearly reaching his shoulders in length, Zara assumed it was in defiance of his Father who merely referred to him as the "Ghost Child." She went to speak, to tell him to head back inside to finish his studies when her black eyes met his grey.

Zara was taken aback by the beauty of the boy who defied his looks with frowns and this hardened gaze he gave her now. Instead of complying with what he probably already knew she was going to command of him, he squared his shoulders and walked away into the hot Sun toward the sandy training grounds where he spent most of his time. She deflated, calling after him only to be ignored. She couldn't know that Kunzite was upset, she'd never be able to tell because this was the day he began to hide emotions.

The letter came nearly two years later. Kunzite was six now and Zara not weathering well in her years but she remained sturdy as she could. She frowned, holding the letter in her hands that spoke of a new path for the young Prince, and not the path she'd hoped for. She groaned when she kneeled in front of him, Kunzite hadn't spoken in two years now but she'd begun to notice how his face shifted, cold eyes following hers as they became level with his own.

"The Sultan has fallen. He will return home in a weeks time." A normal child would have fallen to tears at the news, and had Kunzite not just been left alone in the world with tremendous weight falling to his shoulders, she might have celebrated his death. The boy stared at her, silently taking the piece of paper from her shaking fingers and she watched his grey eyes dance over the paper slowly while he absorbed the words. Zara thought it wasn't fair, for a boy of only six being crowned as Sultan. She wondered of the offer King Adrian had extended, for the beaten boy to live in Elysium amongst the gilded beauty and regality that would have served his upbringing better.

Kunzite was dressed in thin and colorful robes at the Sultan's funeral. Standing silently beside her when the head of their armies handed him a blazing torch. He didn't flinch when the pyre erupted into flame, the warm colors of the fire strangely not reflecting in his eyes but the blue of the sky and greens of the oasis reflecting in them instead. The ceremony wasn't long, no one had honoring words to say for the monstrous man their Sultan was. There was little hope that Kunzite would fare much better, his youth did not lend much to be desired either.

A council of men had been put in place during the wars the Sultan had been away for. It was well known they weren't effective mostly because of the former ruler's lack of cooperation on any laws or areas that were in dire need of improvement. Unfortunately Kunzite's father's reign consisted of a collections of wives he cared nothing for, pointless war with is own countires, rape, pillage, and unrestrained gluttony. One of these men now stepped forward, kneeling before their young King.

"My Lord, in wake of this... tragedy...my council is happy to serve in any way that we can. Might I suggest a briefing of our findings over the years? There is frankly much to discuss on the state of things."

Zara opened her mouth, shifting in preparation to protest his forward approach at the funeral of the boy's father. She didn't know if Kunzite mourned, or if he was complacent. His facial expressions were often blank masks of ambiguity, she never knew what the boy was thinking or feeling and yet Kunzite still had the ability to surprise them all. The fire that consumed his Father's body had not yet gone out when Kunzite turned his back on the display to say the first words he'd spoken in two years. Kunzite took a few steps toward one of the diplomats that had otherwise gone ignored by their previous King with child-like determination.

"See to it."

Zara was left dumbfounded with the rest of them as the boy walked away from the funeral. He was tall for his age, and far too smart. There was no need to hide her correspondence to Elysium now, and since Kunzite immediately moved into his Father's quarters, she was alone for the first time in six years.

True to plan, Kunzite met with the council of men already breaching the middle of their years. It was almost comical to see the young boy perched at the head of a long table with his sandaled feet scarcely touching the floor in robes that were almost too big for him yet. There were experts from financial advisors and economic researchers, lawmen, tradesmen, an overwhelming amount of responsibility that Zara noted Kunzite seemed to struggle under. Zara found it endearing that he insisted she be present alongside his tutors, it was only later that she realized how smart it was of him to have these people present so he could better understand what they talked about.

The meeting was far longer than any of his study sessions, some of the older men grew impatient with their young King who asked more questions than they were comfortable with, and even checked his math and ideas with tutors before coming to any decision. The process took longer of course but the result shocking and fruitful. Zara was only happy to hear the young boy's voice.

"Given the fortunes hoarded by my Father..." Kunzite's wide grey eyes shifted over to his tutor, a sign that he was unsure of his words though his tone would have suggested otherwise. "I think we can provide interim salaries for rations... until trade is established better?" His tutor, and older man with a greying beard and glasses smiled warmly and nodded, quietly pointing to some numbers they'd scrawled out together on a worn parchment with one hand, and placing a reassuring hand at Kunzite's back with another.

It was another couple of hours while arrangements were made and written up, Zara could see Kunzite visibly start to squirm in his seat but gave him credit for his patience at such a young age was impressive. He didn't smile persay, but she could see the makings of one on his mouth, eyes lit from within when he declared a feast for his household which had grown considerably in the days following the Sultan's funeral. Kunzite had the council move into the palace along with some of the army's leaders much to Zara's dislike. They tended to be much cruder than she wanted as an example for the young Sultan but wasn't in a place to argue.

It was his resolute proclamation that made Zara wary, for the young King's cold stare had weight at the age of six that most tribe commanders sought to hold in the prime of their years. Word spread to the neighboring kingdoms of the Child King and the turnaround of their people's famine over the next months. The former Sultan was beyond greedy, hoarding gold and more food than Kunzite and his house staff could eat combined- not that the former King had even given enough to his own staff. Kunzite saw to it that they all had plenty.

There were immediate and drastic differences in the house staff once well fed and more at ease without the old Sultan's violence and brutality to fear. Kunzite however, even in his youth, was swift to show them all he wasn't to be underestimated. His frail child-like body was clearly frustrating to him but he moved the Army Commander into the Palace with his family to have at least a method of authority present. Thankfully what Kunzite saw as out of line was far more lenient than his Father's vision.

Zara noted the many changes happening around her with a breath of fresh air she hadn't been able to breathe in decades. Kunzite dismissed his Father's wives, some calling it cruel since they would no doubt be possessions of the nearest whorehouse with no husband to keep them. The boy had a rather open disdain for the women and no further use for them though it seemed he had a much greater use of the house the old Sultan held them in. Kunzite had it fixed up, as much as a boy knew a house needed fixing, and gifted it to Zara so she would be close to continue her duties, and live a more comfortable life. She'd cried when he announced it to her, hugging him whether he liked it or not because her heart was so full that the seemingly cold child was not truly devoid of feelings.

Kunzite was damaged, this much was clear and justified given who his Father was. Without a Mother, his every joy had been snuffed out by the late Sultan who spat at the boy and bloodied and bruised him at every small sign of happiness in the small child, confusing him with violence that seemed to stem merely from boredom most days. In his silent years it was clear the boy became an observer, no longer playing or singing but he paid close attention to everything his late Father did, and mostly the things he didn't do. Zara had seen him flinch at someone's abrupt movement or at a minor show of affection toward him and yet his spirit was not broken. Especially once freed from his tormenting Father, all the pain and hurt seemed to fuel Kunzite along with a determination Zara had only ever seen from his mother.

The Gods knew she tried, but Kunzite had never known love in a true sense of the word. She had given him affection, and doted on him as much as she could but the boy was often left alone to his vices while she tended to her duties of the house or suffer punishment for becoming lax. Kunzite learned loathing from his father, and as often as Zara told him of the deep love his Mother had for him, he would experience none of it. She was only all too happy to watch him flourish beneath the pressure and weight of new responsibilities, glad he wasn't alone to face them.

As her days became harder, for no reason than her age, Zara watched as Kunzite grew into a solid young man. He was coming out of his awkward stage by the age of fourteen, baffling his people by his strange and sharp beauty that had begun to take shape. He looked like their people, and didn't all at once. One would have to look closely to see the telling signs that he was born of their region yet there was no denying his bloodline. Zara would smile, seeing much of his Mother in his appearance, and it feared her the more she saw his Father in his personality. It was different and concerning all at once the way his anger could flare so easily, his voice once suppressed was thundering with sharp command. With his unrelenting training sessions with the Army Commander he spent so much time with, it was clear his body was becoming as strong as his mind, the few servants he'd reprimanded were likely to agree.

Initially it was against Zara's will that he train so hard, and he was fast to remind her that it wasn't her concern. He'd grown tall, body forming well with hours of hard training and his mind was even better developed by years of observation and hundreds of books he read in his early years by the solitude he was given. When Kunzite wasn't training, he spent his time with the other diplomats, a board of men he'd gathered in his growing years to aid his knowledge of the lands and Kingdoms around them. A council that had always been there, yet seemed to have formed in preparation for something he himself couldn't have explained, young up and coming men who valued education and seemed to hold mutual interest in the betterment of their lands. Aside from feeding his people at the age of six, with the council's aid, Kunzite's major victory at fourteen was open trade.

The King of Elysium had a harsh hold on his lands under the old King. The Middle East was borderline banished from the rest of the world because of the monstrosity of it's ruler, lifted only after his passing to see what the new young Sultan would do. It took him eight years but one by one the surrounding Kingdoms of his own land, and even that of the other three regions around them agreed to open trade. This was huge, opening venues of revenue and opportunity for his people to flourish and the rich culture of his lands to spill out over the surrounding areas to be adored and admired by all.

By the time Kunzite reached sixteen, Zara's concerns broadened when she'd first found the young Sultan with a woman in his bed. His beauty and unique appearance was becoming something of a legend which certainly drew out the hoards of women seeking to be one of his wives since he was now of age. Of course Zara was a much older woman by now, flushing to the roots of her hair when she was summoned to his room to find his state of undress with a very naked woman at his side. She turned her back quickly, but not quick enough that she didn't see bruises on the flesh of the woman beside him.

"Master, pardon the intrusion and my crass words, but just because I changed your diapers and bathed you as a child does not mean you may summon me to your rooms in such a manner. Cover yourself at once." Zara frowned, gazing at the intricate tilework that framed the chamber doors once belonging to his Father with her arms crossed at her chest. The faint hint of incense lingered in the air that mingled with the spiced oils the Sultan grew fond of. It was a unique smell that was his and it made her heart sink with the notion that he'd be cruel in actions that were supposed to be the result of affection. "Are you injured miss?"

"She is fine." She could hear Kunzite shifting, the sound of fabric in motion as he dressed.

"Respect Sultan, I did not ask you." Zara peeked, shifting her black eyes becoming laced with cataracts in her age to ensure he was dressed. When she was certain he was, she regarded the woman whose eyes darted nervously between him and herself as she clutched the sheets to her chest to cover herself. The bruises on her wrists were dark. Kunzite's brow raised, staring hard at her as though he dared her to speak. Zara was no stranger to the fear in the girl's eyes. "Miss? I ask again, are you injured?"

The woman shook her head slowly, shifting nervously beneath the silk sheets.

"No ma'am... bruised... but he did not mean to hurt me. He's merely passionate." Her voice was small, the tone of a battered girl that set rage into the older woman's bones.

"Leave." Kunzite spat behind him at the girl, stepping toward a mirror to comb through the starlight of his hair. He never spoke much, but when he did there was command to it, sometimes ice that the older woman knew given the life he's had to not take offense. Everyone else seemed to suffer beneath it. The girl scrambled from the bed to pull on her dress, refusing eye contact when she rushed from the door with the laces on her garment scarcely done.

Zara huffed, stomping across the room toward the young Sultan who already looked very much like a man but proving himself still very much a boy in his actions. It was difficult for her to reach anymore, but she defied her aging bones to grab hard at his earlobe and dragged him back toward his bed with a harsh yank.

"Zara what the-"

"LISTEN to me RIGHT NOW Lord Kunzite... " Zara's tone took Kunzite aback, his eyes grew wide, and for the first time in ten years she saw fear in the pale grey depths that betrayed his hard commanding presence for once. "Your mother would be ashamed and your Father proud. Will you be the saint or the tyrant?" Her fists found her round hips, pleased that shame washed over his otherwise handsome features.

"I- I didn't mean to harm her..." He muttered, staring off to the side toward one of his finely carved bedposts. It could have gone one of two ways. He could have become enraged with untold brutalities toward her boldness, or Zara would judge his character by the shame he showed now and know that he meant it. "I know Father was unkind to my Mother... "

"Your father was unkind to all woman Sultan. I thought maybe I had schooled you better. You're strong for a boy your age... stronger than most men twice your age even. Don't underestimate the strength of women but most won't be able to stand up to a man of your power." Kunzite nodded, still staring at the floor and trying to hide behind a curtain of his silver hair. "Remember...don't ever think a woman is less powerful than yourself. You may hold strength over her, you may not, but know that a woman's resourcefulness can topple entire Kingdoms."

"It's just... she didn't seem to mind." His voice was more timid than she was used to, and Zara looked away awkwardly, her face flushing a deeper red than it had earlier when she came into the room.

"Mind or not... I won't hear of you hurting women or anyone that doesn't require punishment. You're better than that. Rest her soul, your Mother knew you were better than that before you were born so you'd do well to make her proud. Hm?" In efforts to lighten the mood, she lifted the boy's chin and smiled warmly. Zara knew he wouldn't smile back, but that serious mask he wore washed back over his features, his nod was the only affirmation she really needed. It did little to help however, whispers around town of the Sultan's newfound appetite gave her a new source of embarrassment each day. She was too much of a coward to inquire about it further with him. It helped that women did not regard him with fear, and only mildly bothered her that they lusted rather openly for him. To Zara, Kunzite was very much still a child.

His next bold, idiot move, was to go to war. Not of his own devices but there were tribes bitter with the actions of their past King that threatened the otherwise quiet contentment of their slowly prospering lands. Rulers that sought to overthrow the Sultan and hail a new leader as King of their realm. So Kunzite saddled up beside their own Army Commander and rode off into the sands declaring that he would be no coward King, but one to fight for his people with sweat and blood. To fight and earn the title that was rightfully his own. Not that he was a man for speeches at all. He'd written it for the head of his council that he kept in place even now when his skill in diplomacy and economics had become unmatched in any region due to years of study, and it would be that same council to run the Kingdom in his absence. It wasn't the first time he'd gone to war, Kunzite had participated in smaller skirmishes since he was fourteen and always scared the life out of Zara but this battle was proving to be worse than imagined.

He was eighteen the next time she saw him, two years of written letters and absence of the boy that Zara loved so dearly as the Son she'd never have. It wasn't a surprise that it was on a stretcher, bloodied and near death. Zara was grey now, her face plump and wrinkled from hard days of work in the beating Sun, her black eyes wide with worry while doctors worked tirelessly over the King the way they never would have over his Father. They would have left him to die she was certain, but Kunzite was widely respected and feared simultaneously because not only was there something so vastly strange about him as a man, he was a unique ruler for their region in his virtuous ideals.

Zara settled into a chair outside the King's chamber where his screams could be heard while doctors tried to sew shut his wounds and set broken bones. They were more feral growls than screams, because if she knew anything about him as a man, it was that Kunzite showed no weakness. A scribe and the new Army Commander sat in the airy walkway outside the King's chamber to document the war so that the world could know of a new hero found in their King.

"He was as the wind... sweeping silently through the blood and sand with the strength of the Gods at his back. His blows were not always deadly, only when there was no other option but an entire army fell before his skill with a blade. It was unlike anything I have seen in my many wars as though he commanded Aries himself to bend before his will. Our Commander fell in the ambush of the two other tribes, but our King would not relent. Most men fell to exhaustion first but the battle seemed to fuel him forward as though loss was no option for our realm."

"The battle was with our own realm." The scribe frowned, peering up above the crude lenses that rest on his nose.

"Yes well... it was our King to best all three tribe leaders. Even after the broadsword pierced him he used the time that was against him before he bled out... and he decimated them all. Our Sultan was an Angel of War and he remains victorious." Kunzite's snarls and curses rang out from behind the door. Zara winced and acted like she might stand to go to him, but the Soldier beside her place his hand gently at her arm and shook his head slowly. "Our King...Kunzite is no normal, mortal man. He is being heralded as some God... "

It was days, weeks even, after crude surgeries and fight with infection that should have killed him if the wound didn't, that Kunzite was something of himself again. Zara tried not looking at the angry wound on his chest from what appeared to be a rather large broadsword when she came to deliver him water and broth with the news that he was awake.

"Zara.." His voice was hoarse, pale eyes hooded and drowsy when she approached his bed side. She noted that his hair had grown long, very long, and yet unlike men of stature in their lands he kept his face shaven clean. His body was tanned and strong, limbs long and muscled and he'd grown imposingly tall. Had she been a younger woman she would have been devastated by his beauty even in his weakened state where he fought infection and was ordered not to move or his wounds would open once more. He'd been riddled with scars before from smaller skirmishes, but he'd returned from this battle with angrier ones.

"I thought you would have known better than to come home in such a state. I thought we'd lost you." She scolded, eyes watering and Zara tried hard not to let him see her so affected. Her hands trembled anyway, but more so now as her fingers fidgeted with a tassel at the corner of one of his many pillows. His hand, large and warm over hers was calloused and gentle, as were his eyes when hers snapped up to his so very light grey ones against the tanned sun kissed skin of his face. She could see it, what they meant about him being some reincarnated God, or Angel only Zara couldn't picture any such thing on a battlefield. She'd seen his sharp and well defined face twisted in malice before, but it was this silent beat between them where his eyes were gentle, features relaxed and his lips even dared to quirk in the faintest of smiles. His eyes were grey instead of amber, but she almost thought she felt Tahira's spirit with them in that smile.

"I am sorry to disappoint you... but I thought it best to come home outside of a box than in one. I would rather disappoint you than make you grieve." One of her tears hit his hand when she nodded in affirmation. Kunzite reached to wipe another from her wrinkled cheek. "I fear my duties lie yet ahead of me... I felt a calling that I can't describe other than there was a white horse with dove's wings. I would call it a fever dream but those are frustrating where this one brought me peace."

The angry broadsword wound was the worst of his injuries, the swelling and bruising around one eye had faded into an olive hue but his left brow had been split open and sewn shut, ribs deep purple amongst other cuts and wounds Zara was happy to stay oblivious to.

"You've been lax in your studies of worlds outside this one... as well as the legends of your own planet. I'll bring you the book and some parchment. You may want to write to your King." She shifted on her swelling feet uncomfortably with the strange pit in her stomach at his words. "Well... I'm glad you are awake." She sniffled softly, wiping one more tear before she sat beside him on the mattress with a sly little smile. "I brought you soup. It's been some time since I've had to feed you."

"If you tell a soul..." Zara laughed gently at his empty threat, noting how his lips turned downward in a warning frown.

"I make no promises Sultan...but you need to eat."

"Zara... why would I write to the Elysian Palace after a dream?" He looked almost boyish in his curiosity, like that small boy who asked a hundred questions a minute.

"Because perhaps they are right in what they say about you Kunzite. I think maybe you are a King of Heaven."

It took him months to recover, but that first day he could stand and walk and do anything of note Kunzite promptly pulled on thin linen pants and stepped out into the fresh air of the open Palace outside his rooms. It was late morning, his pale eyes gazing out over the sands watching the golden dunes shift in the warm breeze. The towns below him were bustling already full of life. His right shoulder was still stiff even if the wound was in his chest, and though he wanted to rush down to the training grounds, knew it would still be weeks before he'd be able to lift a sword again.

A frown graced his lips at the sight of Zara just outside. She struggled in her older age with heavy buckets of water balanced carefully by a pole over her back for laundry no doubt. Kunzite took a moment to appraise the woman who raised him from an infant, saved his life, and gave him some semblance of a child hood. It wasn't her fault his Father had taken any chance of her having her own children or even a husband, the old spinster was the only family he had and could place fear in him the same way most Mother's knew how to place fear in their children. Kunzite found her beautiful now, her back hunched, wrinkled hands struggling to keep the pole balanced, how her grey hair almost matched his own in shade.

He rushed down the short flight of stairs, sand coarse beneath his feet but it was always everywhere, you get used to it. The older woman didn't hear him coming, only gazed up in surprise when he lifted the buckets from her back with his left hand and placed it gracefully over his one shoulder. She'd shrunk over the years, standing a foot and a half shorter than himself and Kunzite had somehow grown so strong. His injury forced him to learn to write, and use his left hand over his right one and so he favored his left now, but Gods save the man who met him in battle next if he switched to his right.

"But my King..." Zara began to protest, Kunzite waving her off immediately with disdain of her insistence of using formalities with him. She was the closest thing he had to a Mother, and yet remained so far from it. He gave her a scolding look with his eyes and she fell silent and unsure when he lead her to the bath house. Kunzite handed the buckets to a younger girl he'd just hired to take more responsibility from his head of house. Zara gave him a look, and Kunzite merely kept his silence, and embraced the older woman.

"Thank you...Zara... just...thank you."

Kunzite had little time. No sooner had he written the Elysian King about his dream did he receive a very specific and very formal summons. His research on the myth and legends of Elysium and the Four Kings Zara spoke of was light and incomplete and did little but feed the sense of destiny he'd felt since he was a child. All he knew was that per the letter King Adrian sent him, he was to form a system of government and rule through them from the Golden Kingdom where he would serve as a leader for the rest of his days. According to the King, Kunzite had been chosen as Commander of the Earthen Armies and Guardian of the Prince who was still a mere boy from his understanding.

It was the deep conviction of the King's scroll, how the handwriting was clearly written so feverishly of destiny and profound things like prophecy and legend. Kunzite devoted his entire life to his people, knowing of the lands the King he now served were of mythology and real all at once. It was an afterthought to the young Sultan because they were real- and therefore no longer mythology.

Deep down he always knew he was different. From his strange appearance to the way he just knew things, understood things well beyond his years. Kunzite felt the call long ago, it kept him from breaking when he'd curl up after the Sultan's harsh beatings. The man who gave him life, who should have loved and protected him as next in line to his seat did not pull his punches one bit. There weren't words enough for the pain Kunzite endured since his earliest memories, the fact that his father broke his nose once and he'd used a medical tome to try and set it himself. His nose never did sit right after that but he never had time much to think of the long term repercussions.

His people were always more important than his own personal pain and so he buried it out on the training ground, scribed it in hidden imagery in piles of reports and laws he scribed that might allow his people to prosper. Kunzite's pain was laced throughout all of his hard earned accomplishments so that he could refuse to acknowledge it on the battlefield no matter the injury. He supposed he had his Father to thank for that.

The King's letter told him that a caravan was on the way to deliver new uniform and instruction and that he had a mere few months to prepare everything else. The government he was to form was one of the many things he just knew he needed to do, since he was six and all alone in the world it seemed aside from Zara. Part of the council he'd put together of young, up and coming diplomats and scholars who had proven themselves many times over in his court.

For the moment he just held on to the older woman. Worn and beaten in her years under his father he saw that Zara never quite recovered. She'd tried to teach him so much but in his stubbornness some of it rolled right off of him, other's she'd forced him to see her view on such as her concern for the women he associated with. Kunzite could have had a harem of women, yet found the practice of many wives and collecting them like one might collect trinkets appalling. He was thirsty in his lust, an attribute perhaps passed on by his Father and yet it was the only time a woman would walk away from him with bruises. These marks however were formed by his mouth, or perhaps he became too overzealous and would grip their wrists or arms a little too tight. Nothing malicious, nothing forced, and nothing unwanted.

For what it was worth he loved Zara, not the way he might have loved his Mother but the old woman showed him that strength was as feminine as it was masculine in her iron determination, independence, and devotion. Love meant little to Kunzite who read poetry of the European Kingdom, and far fetched tales of romance and soul mates. He didn't understand them mostly because he'd never felt like that toward another soul. Sentimental emotions weren't anything he regarded with exception of the old woman always seemingly close to him.

"Come with me." He commanded in a gentle way he only used with her. She was propped up in her bed, long grey waves falling over her shoulders. Zara's eyes warmed at him, her shaking and wrinkled hand brushed his cheek affectionately, and she slowly shook her head.

"No Sultan. I am old, my body would not make the trip." She was becoming more frail, that old strength and fire in her visibly waning. Kunzite could not bear the thought of leaving her here in this vast and airy palace to die alone.

"Then I will stay." He frowned, brows furrowing. He still held such youth in him, only just a man at eighteen and had seen so many horrible things. Zara was the only good he'd ever known.

"No... you know in your heart that you cannot. But you will not leave me little Kunzite, I'll be with you as much as you'll be with me." The wrinkles around her eyes deepened as she smiled, her black eyes gleaming lively in the dim light of the fire in her hearth. It seemed she was always cold these days. "Just the way your Mother has always been with you."

Kunzite would never admit that he was afraid. She had always been there to guide him and set him straight when his temper got the best of him. A security and a comfort he wasn't sure he could part from. She was right as usual- his heart knew he that something was waiting for him. A pull too strong to ignore. Kunzite gave the woman a solemn nod, standing slowly to press a kiss to the top of her head before he'd disappear into the cool desert night.


	2. Chapter 2

A gentle breeze blew the thin fabrics of his tunic and pants, cold grey eyes watching the slow march of the caravan through the city below his palace on the towering dunes. Kunzite knew the day was coming, spent a bit of time each morning standing in just this place watching the sand float across stone steps while the day broke into warm colors of orange, gold, and violet kissing the horizon. He'd been corresponding with the King of Elysium purely as just a royal servant to the Middle Eastern realms for several years, never understanding the urging offers his King extended for him to travel to the legend land. Kunzite had a hunch he'd end up there sooner or later but he hadn't counted on having such little time. He loathed the idea of leaving Zara behind, and there was still so much work to be done in his own Kingdoms, but as his stare fell upon the Elysian crest of the golden rose, he felt something powerful stir inside him.

He stood on firm feet, body and mind scarred by his various victories having fought and won his first war at the young age of fourteen, a minor skirmish in comparison to the most recent. Kunzite was unmatched, a force of nature. A product of his destiny he assumed, being one of the Heavenly Kings of Earth was left unspoken by his father who brought him into the world without an education of what that meant. He had always been stronger than most, smarter, more cunning than men of twice his age. Kunzite was worshipped by some, ruling with a very hard hand and built his army up with harsher conviction. The harder a soldier was pushed, the more grateful he'd be for his strength in victory, and should he fall into the arms of death he could be grateful that it wasn't because he was weak.

At the young age of eighteen, he was already a celebrated King, a warlord, economic and financial genius, and both loved and feared by his people. His father had been a disappointment as a human being let alone King, and Father. He was killed in combat when he was only six and left him with no family and little aid to turn their city into the crown jewel of the Middle East. Dying was perhaps the best thing the old Sultan had ever done for him, leaving him to be raised by a doting Nanny and a staff of councilmen and scholars. Never had the people of his lands seen such prosperity, a King who trained and fought with his armies and personally enforced his own law. He was a fair and just ruler, with the reputation for brutality both on the battlefield and with the women that warmed his bed.

Most claimed it was because of his beauty, his strange silver hair that he wore long and smooth just below his shoulders, and his pale grey eyes like storm clouds over the desert sands of his tanned skin. His features held few attributes similar to his people and yet there were subtle similarities that one might have to look for to recognize. His face was fierce, sharp and angular with a strong jaw and cheekbones and well formed mouth that held popular with the women. Kunzite was already imposingly tall, his limbs long and formed with well defined muscle that held power most men did not possess. His soldiers would tell you that he held enough power behind his cold grey eyes to cripple an entire warrior tribe with a glare alone, that his bare hands were lethal but to beware when those hands took up a sword.

His lips tensed in a disapproving frown as the Elysian carriage pulled to the front of the airy palace he called home, shifting on his feet to give the air of impatience. Some would say the palace was close to Heaven based only by the number of stone stairs it took to reach it. Kunzite never put much stock in things like Heaven or Hell, Gods and Goddesses. There were societies in the neighboring realms nearby that were completely obsessed, and while their stories reached his ears he dismissed them just as quickly. He was aware that there was truth to them, a harsh reality he paid little mind to in order to cater to his people, but also defiance. People of his world meant so little to the all powerful beings reigning outside the atmosphere of their world, he figured he'd only extend them the same courtesy.

Kunzite's stance was meant to intimidate, arms crossed over his chest bared with visible scars from the recent battle beneath the open tunic he wore. Eyes hardened as he watched with stone-like grace while the heavily armored Elysian messenger began the long trek in the heat up the stairs toward him. He almost had a mind to feel sorry for the man, baking no doubt in heavy armor with the Sun beating down hard overhead. The man was only going to tell him what he already knew, to prepare for a new Government he'd already begun to implement. He did not feel bad however, because the man was here to deliver him to a destiny that Kunzite had no say in.

His pale eyes squinted slightly as the man approached, lips tugging downward further in appraisal of the soldier's sweat soaked reddened face and lack of breath. The man crossed an arm over his chest, bowing deeply with his free arm extended out with offering of a simple parchment that quivered in his shaking hand. Kunzite shifted on his feet, his posture and stare demanding attention when his hand extended to take the parchment with fluid movement.

"Your name soldier." He commanded, unfolding the paper and skimming over it with stone eyes. It was exactly as he thought it would read, slight personal touches added by the King who thought he knew him. Kunzite was no arrogant man, but realistic where it counted, and the Elysian King knew nothing but whispers of his courts translated through others and into his ears.

"Jenson your Grace." Kunzite frowned and his eyes shifted from the paper to the brown haired man who barely reached his chin. He accepted the wrapped fabric bag from the soldier as well, a new uniform he'd be expected to wear upon arrival when a new caravan would come to collect and bring him to his new home in two weeks time.

"You would do well to walk with your shoulders back and head high if you are going to wear that golden rose." He gestured to the Elysian crest of a gold rose and royal blue banner over the man's heart.

"Yes your Grace." Kunzite's brow raised with a brief further appraisal the way this man's voice quivered slightly.

"You will also do well to regard me as your Commander. And train harder, this is a warning, because I will accept no weak soldier in my army. They would wear that armor and endure this heat without a sweat to their brow on these stairs, do you understand me soldier?" He looked rattled, but he nodded.

"Y-yes Commander." He swallowed hard and Kunzite waved him off in a dismissive gesture. He almost chuckled at the manner with which the younger man shuffled down the steps in a hurry to get away.

The uniform was stiff, a thick fabric that wasn't rough but certainly was not soft. Kunzite set it aside, determined to enjoy his lands while he could because he didn't know when and if he would ever return to the beloved sands and oasis that graced the colorful and fragrant culture of his people. Being that he already prepared for a government structure to function in his absence, quick to remind them with astonishing clarity that he was still King of these lands, Kunzite decided to enjoy as much drink and as many women as he could before he was to set off to be third in line to the throne of Earth itself.

He packed very little. The King had insisted in his letters that they would have all he'd ever need in Elysium but there were things Kunzite saw as non-negotiable if he was supposed to call this strange land home like the oils and soaps he favored he set to order monthly with well arranged billing. Based on the uniform, he packed some looser clothing for loungewear since from the sound of it that thick canvas garment he'd been provided would be well lived in.

Most importantly was Zara. Kunzite hired her own house staff that took up a wing in his palace closest to the home he'd retired her to. She had people to cook for her, clean, nurses and doctors on staff. Zara just wasn't faring well anymore with her crooked back, vision problems, and he noticed that her mind was going just slightly. Kunzite took his last night in his lands with her to enjoy a quiet supper of their favorite foods. He read a book in silence while she sat beside him attempting to sew.

"Your mother would be proud of you. The man you've become." She said out of nowhere. Kunzite rest the book on his lap and peered beside him at her shaking hands. "Your people are proud to call you their King..."

"But are you proud Zara?" He could feel the well of emotions tightening his throat, knowing it was the last time he'd ever hear her voice, or see her kind and wrinkled face. She was perhaps the only person who had ever seen him appear vulnerable.

"Oh Kunzite..." The tears pricked his eyes at the lack of formality used toward him. It was then that he decided he hated formalities, and his name had never sounded sweeter than on this worn old woman's voice. "I am proudest of all. You are the Son and family that I never had. You brought me joy in my darkest of hours... I only wish I could have given you a better life."

Her hand lifted shakily to wipe tears from his cheeks. Kunzite had never cried once in his eighteen years, not even when he was mortally wounded, or his Father struck him as a child. But this- to lose her, was far more excruciating.

"My life has been made complete with your care and wisdom Zara...I would have been a worse man and even poorer King." Kunzite's voice was a mere whisper, his large hand lifting to press her frail hand to his cheek and kiss the thinning skin of her palm.

"You have a greater life ahead of you now, a purpose most people wish they had. It is an honor of the highest to be chosen for your rank, and I hope above all hope that you find peace, and maybe love." He swallowed hard, holding her hand in her lap. "Oh don't look at me like that... a King deserves a Queen at his side. A woman that can handle your scandalous affairs."

"You know I never intend to marry... bearing a Son would be fruitless if he is to be a slave to the crown like myself. Who would tend to him if I am killed? Another bastard left to live the life that I have." He sighed, leaning back against some cushions. Zara stared up at him with fiery amusement. "I wouldn't dare placing a woman or child in the position to fear for me every moment. "

"You'll meet someone some day that will make you question all this Kunzite. Mark my words she'll disarm you and you will never want another woman at your side." Kunzite chuckled at this, raising his brow with a good natured pat to her hand.

"That so? I can't fathom any woman would be worth the trouble." Zara joined his laughter, a welcome change from the tears.

"She'll have to be a Hell of a woman for certain if she's to capture your heart and make it her own."

"I think you're mistaking me for a man to make his heart so easy to capture. If it's not guarded I might fail at the oaths I must take to the Golden Rose." Zara nudged him lightly, her head falling to rest at his shoulder.

"Oh Kunzite... it's not a matter of guard. Love is a silent predator. You'll be in love before you know it's even happened."

His lips set, the older woman at his side falling fast asleep before he could retort, or ask her if she had fallen prey to love before to have such knowledge about it. He sat like this a while to ponder it all, a mother's hope for her child for the blissful realms of love and happiness. It wasn't for him, he'd known that for years. A boy born to the life he's had didn't allow much room for it.

Morning came quickly and the Elysian carriage was irritatingly prompt, and Kunzite was a man to appreciate a tight schedule. The uniform he wore was constricting, the cape heavy cumbersome, though Zara gushed over how handsome he looked Kunzite was ready to be free of it already. The old woman spared him her tears, it didn't help that he knew they'd come once the carriage pulled away from the only home he'd ever known.

"You will ensure her every need and whim is cared for." Kunzite commanded, icy glare drifting slowly over the leading members of his new Government. That glare that could make a lesser man cower, one that suggested the meager nod they gave to him was not enough. "I mean it. Any motion or act of neglect will be swiftly rectified."

"Of course Sultan. We understand that Zara is family, she will be regarded as your Mother." The leader of this group spoke up finally, a stout bearded man who was kinder than himself yet held the same resolve in his ideals. Kunzite knew he had chosen well in this man when he had stepped in sometime over the years to replace an elder member. He had hopes his lands would be ruled in gentler hands under this Government. Even beneath him there was a certain edge, and his people had lived in fear for so long. He nodded, placing an affectionate hand on his new leader's shoulder, allowing his eyes to soften just so in his gratitude before he stepped to embrace the old woman beside them.

"You will write me." Kunzite placed his hands gently on either side of Zara's face, needing to bend to press his forehead to hers in affection. Her nearly black eyes had become somewhat clouded so he knew she would need assistance with any form of scripture.

"Of course I will, my little Kunzite." She beamed up at him, seeking to choke him with the love he saw, the pride in her. Zara's arms wrapped around his waist, and Kunzite swallowed down that horrible, dry, knot in his throat with a tight embrace of his own. He kissed the top of her head, taking a moment to memorize the floral shampoo she favored so much. Violets, she smelled like violets. Kunzite offered her a smile, strong and sure though the punch to his gut was stealing his breath with longing for a home he had yet to leave. With a last kiss to Zara's forehead, Kunzite gave them all a salute, one arm crossed over his chest so his fist rest over his heart and he bowed. The salute as a soldier for Elysium.

Once secured into the first carriage in the small caravan of his belongings, Kunzite did not look back at the small party that gathered to see him off. He knew that to see Zara's small form disappearing beyond the horizon might shatter him, that he would lose the will to follow through. It only took hours before he was unbuttoning the first three of his uniform, taking slow, deep breaths to calm his anxieties. Kunzite had packed the carriage with as many books as he could, knowing the trip would be long he wanted to learn more about Elysium, and these Heavenly Kings he was said to be leader of, to educate himself on things he tried so hard to ignore. Like he would have had the time anyway, he was too busy making sure his people were cared for.

He'd already been a King for twelve years, a slow start since he was a child but he was so blessed to have the support of scholars and councils that forced him to learn things the hard way, forcing him to learn things all too quickly. Kunzite knew that it was Zara that had seen to it. Reached out to tutors, and members of the old Sultan's neglected council because a child has no place creating laws or deciding what is best for the hundreds of thousands of people under his crown. It was her voice in his ear asking what he wanted to accomplish, helping him prioritize and even letting him down gently when he would command something on a child's whim. He smiled to himself in private because in those early years it was Zara who had been Sultan, not the six year old King.

Days went by into weeks, they stopped when they could, and Kunzite slept when he could. The carriage was confining for his rather tall build and after so long his temper was just always beneath his skin, he'd already called the carriage driver every name in the book out of irritation alone. The driver laughed it off of course when Kunzite apologized during one of their stops later, he knew the cabin wasn't exactly comfortable for a man of his size and assured him the driver's seat was no less accommodating.

Kunzite hated being cold, and in contrast with his homelands that's exactly how it felt in the strange and foreign lands they traveled. He learned that Elysium had rapid seasons of intense cold and heat with everything in between. This intrigued him of course because he had never seen snow, or the colors of autumn. He had never seen anything but gold sand and blue waters so despite his temper lingering ever close to the surface of his skin, Kunzite was captivated by endless fields, oceans of grasses and the canopies of forests. He even felt mild fear by the imposing mountain ranges, only really feeling calm by the endlessness of the sea.

Night had fallen when they crossed the borders into the legend lands of Elysium. The driver's sharp call woke Kunzite from a dreamless sleep warranting a slurred name at the poor man before the General pushed the curtain to his window aside to peer out into the night. His pale grey eyes widened and Kunzite threw the curtain open completely. They were in dense forest but even through the door he caught the fragrant smell of jasmine and his gaze was greeted by lush green lit by thousands of fireflies that danced through the night. The Moonlight was so bright here he could clearly see hints of purple, pink, red, and blue flowers and the wildlife that grazed through the babbling brooks of streams and lakes. Kunzite noted as the forest seemed to thin out some, that there were even small villages nestled in the trees and could vaguely see firelight or the burning ember of someone's pipe in the darkness.

Forests gave way to farmlands and small towns that were still filtered by the soft blue light of the Moon above. He noted all the houses and streets were made of stone and elegant architecture laced and accented by ivy and flowers that he had never seen before. Even Kunzite, the stone-like warlord cracked a gentle smile when they passed through a small city and a group of people sang around a bonfire while beautiful women danced and laughed. The closer they drew to the more populated areas near the Elysian City, the more people he saw all vibrant and beautiful and so full of life even if they were just sitting on porches telling old tales and legends of fearsome Gods and beautiful Goddesses and Kunzite could smell their sweet tobacco through the window, mingling with the earthy smell of soil and flora. Elysium made Kunzite feel things, and suddenly the sands of his home world were rendered dull and lifeless in comparison to his new home which appeared to be a massive eden of gardens and temples and lavish manors.

As they approached the Elysian city, Kunzite caught the fresh scent of the sea. One side opened through fields and he could see the harbor, the other lined with thick forest that opened up to more cliffs over the ocean. The greatest spectacle as they drove through the streets of drunk men, brawling outside of bars and happy artisans working late into the night, was the Elysian palace.

They passed through the largest stone walls Kunzite had ever laid eyes upon, greeted by two guards who opened the massive golden gates onto the lawn that still held manors, stables, farmlands, sea and forest. The skyline was occupied by the castle's massive turrets and towers, a mountainous structure that stretched on seemingly for miles. It was nestled against the cliffs overlooking the ocean and the air was thick with the scent of roses. He was anxious, mostly to get the hell out of the mobile prison he rode in, but anxious to meet the King he's corresponded with since he was a child. To meet the brothers he was to lead, and the young Prince he was to guard.

The carriage approached another set of gates, black iron with a large golden rose crested in the center and in mere moments they were pulling up in front of the imposingly elegant castle. Despite his body's screaming at him to get out and stand, stretch his cramped muscles, Kunzite took a moment. He'd done nothing but prepare and strategize these past weeks since he had little else to do, but as he gazed out the window with pale eyes he took a breath knowing his life was tied by destiny and it stared him straight in the face. Kunzite could only hope this would be a life worth living, that he would end his days fulfilled.

The palace was nestled high up on the cliffs above the seas and as Kunzite slowly stepped from the carriage a cool, very fresh breeze filled his lungs and he almost kissed the ground beneath his boots. He managed to keep his face solemn as he assessed his surroundings despite his aching muscles and joints that screamed at him from the long weeks of travel, that carriage was far too cramped for his six foot two inch frame. He pulled his long silvery hair to the side to rub at his aching neck, lifting his chin to gaze up at the stonework of the sprawling castle before him. It was gorgeous, colored stained glass, ivy creeping up the stone, and the sweet smell of roses with the sea salt lingering on the air all around them.

The front doors to the palace opened, the lower ranked guards immediately issued an Elysian salute to three younger men who emerged from the tall heavy doors speaking in quiet tones. Kunzite gathered quickly by their matching uniforms that these were the three other Legendary Shitennou, his brothers and fellow Heavenly Kings. He quickly regained his posture and serious expression with assessing grey eyes and they seemed to do the same to him, falling into silence and pausing only a few feet in front of him. Kunzite was not a man to make note of another man's beauty, but there was something striking about each of their appearances that was more than just King-like.

The first boy was massively tall for his young age of sixteen and his bulkier frame told him he was a trained fighter with broad shoulders and yet his limbs were long making him appear leaner than he was perhaps and not stocky. He appeared to be made of raw power and yet his face and the smile that graced it was one of the friendliest he'd ever seen. His hair was longer than Kunzite's, falling in deep waves of chestnut brown down his back and big warm brown eyes even friendlier than his smile. The man crossed a powerful arm over his chest in salute and gave a deep bow.

"I am Nephrite, Heavenly King of the Western world. Welcome my brother." Kunzite nodded in respect but his face was more than likely a cold mask of weariness. This didn't phase the larger man who only smiled broader, even if his eyes spoke of exhaustion.

Next to Nephrite was the shortest of men, clearly the youngest of them made all the more comical next to the mountainous boy at his side. This man's build was smaller, streamlined and much leaner than all of them. His face was angelic, like a painting popular in the European lands Kunzite assumed he came from and he wondered if this boy inspired those paintings. His features were gentle, not feminine per say but softer with youth. His eyes were a vibrant green that were too wise for his suggested young age and framed by wild strawberry blonde curls that were pulled back carelessly by a green ribbon and fell down his back in a long thick ponytail. The boy couldn't have been older than thirteen years of age and yet his expression was nearly bored when he offered the same bow of Elysian.

"I am Zoisite, Heavenly King of the European Kingdoms."

Lastly was a boy with shorter shaggy blonde waves for hair, he was average of build around fifteen years old but his deep blue eyes spoke of trouble and mischief, barely a head taller than Zoisite. The upward smirk of his lips and the gleam in his eye confirmed that this boy would give him trouble. His features were sharper, angular, giving the appearance of a cunning Kunzite was certain he'd have to keep an eye on. In the same manner, this blonde boy offered an exaggerated bow with his salute and proceeded to grin like an idiot.

"I am Jadeite, Heavenly King of the Far Eastern Kingdoms. Welcome to the Brotherhood."

Kunzite became painfully aware of a few thing in this moment. First, he was the eldest of these men by at least good five years though he was barely a man himself. These were still just boys. Secondly, he was the only one wearing a cape, a sign of superiority and rank. He could feel the assessing eyes of them as there weren't many men his age with silver hair and pale eyes coupled with his tanned complexion beside their paler skin tones. Much against the will of his aching back, Kunzite offered his men the Elysian salute and bowed deeply.

"I am Kunzite, Heavenly King of the Middle East. I am pleased to join you, my brothers." He was already a man of few words but his exhaustion wouldn't allow him to form more words if he wanted to. He was sore, and wanted nothing more than a hot shower, more comfortable clothes, and a real bed. Instead, as he usually did, he offered each boy a lingering stare that commanded attention, effectively wiping the boredom and snarkiness from Zoisite and Jadeite but did little to effect Nephrite who slapped his hand against his shoulder and grinned at him warmly.

"Let's get inside shall we? I think we're all beat from the trip here. I just spent months on a ship so I feel your pain, those carriages aren't nearly big enough. The King and Queen are waiting, let's go do introductions so we can get some shut-eye." Nephrite offered with a weary grin. Kunzite nodded, more than happy to get this part over with. He decided he'd like Nephrite, the perfect warmth to his otherwise icy demeanor. Kunzite never meant to be such an overbearing presence but it was what often landed him in these positions of authority, it was nice to already have someone to balance him out.

The palace was rather dark, dimly lit by candles and put to bed Kunzite assumed by the emptiness of the halls. Everything was polished stone and golden accents with dark wood and jewel toned tapestries and thick rugs. It was grand really, beautifully intricate and elegant like nothing Kunzite had ever seen. The windows held beautiful stained glass designs casting faint colors over the floors by moonlight and the scent of roses seemed to follow them indoors.

It was rather sudden that Kunzite noticed the formation they walked as he lead them through the hallway, an automatic formation with Nephrite at his right directly behind with Zoisite to his left and Jadeite trailed at the flank lazily. He knew nothing of these men so he found himself baffled by how natural it felt. A small mouse of a woman appeared from what was probably a service hallway and she stopped dead in her tracks to gawk at the Heavenly men awkwardly.

"My Lords... if you would please follow me, the King and Queen are expecting you." She seemed to remember in this moment that breathing was important and her flushed face and flustered demeanor had Jadeite snickering and whispering something to Zoisite that made the young King roll his eyes but smirk despite himself. It was no secret that the Shitennou would be beautiful as far as men went, though most of them were still just boys. If Legend turned out to be true, they were wielders of ancient magic, each larger than life and more powerful than average Terran men then they would more than likely entice fear in the people of Earth. Legend stated that they were the product of Angels taking an Earthly mate, another legend Kunzite did not take much stock in. Magic was thought to be dangerous and made you more God-like, hence the name Heavenly Kings of Earth.

Kunzite was too tired to deal with whatever fun Jadeite was poking at this poor woman who had probably served the royal family her whole life, she was probably as tired as they were truth be told. She lead the men to large wooden intricately carved doors that were propped open to a vast room and the Royal Family were perched in their thrones elevated from the rest of the marble floors. The gilded ceilings were accented by gold and white making the room appear lighter against the thick red curtains that were drawn tight across the tall windows. The King and Queen halted their quiet conversation, which had the Queen smiling lovingly at her husband who was chuckling jovially at something private they were discussing. It warmed Kunzite's heart immediately, and he had never seen such beauty in mere Terrans before.

The King was handsome, a bit robust in his later years but his features were strong. The gold crown he wore was modest but a brilliant gold in his salt and pepper colored hair and well trimmed beard, strong jaw and well formed features all brought to life by a very lively pair of warm blue eyes. The Queen was slender and beautiful with her dark features of cascading black curls and soft violet eyes that were pale and brought out by the blue and gold gown she wore. There were gentle signs of aging around her eyes and lips that suggested a lifetime of smiles and laughter, though youth had yet to be lost on her. It all made something twist inside Kunzite's stomach, there was a notion of love he'd never felt before and it made him ache. It certainly wasn't his sore muscles churning his insides, Kunzite couldn't help but think that his discomfort with it would give Zara great amusement.

What twisted his heart the most was the young man, comically asleep on the throne beside his mother. He was only about fifteen, same as Jadeite and there was something magnetic about him, Kunzite was like a moth to the flame. His deep black hair fell messily over his closed eyes, his head being held up only by the palm of his hand. Even in his youth he was utterly beautiful, a strong jawline like his Father and foundation that was telling of the man he had yet to become. He wore armor, dark black and blue decorated by silver and a small sword at his side. The fondness Kunzite felt immediately for the boy placed with his careless manner had Kunzite's lips curling in a small and rare placed smile. The Queen nudged him gently, whispering for him to sit up and greet the newcomers as mothers do.

When the boy's eyes fluttered open sleepily, they were far too blue, bright with sleep upon waking. He leaned his head on his mother's arm who kissed his hair affectionately. The three Royals stood, signifying for the Shitennou to fall to their knees in respect. Kunzite was only hoping they couldn't hear his exhale of breath as he fell when his back revolted against him at the action.

"It is our honor to serve you Lord, the Four Heavenly Kings of Earth who guard your realms offer peace and servitude to your family and lands of Elysium until we are parted by death." Kunzite spoke, memorized it on the painful ride to this destination, his...no- their destinies. It was a comfort to him that he was no longer alone, easing the longing he had for his Palace and the old woman he'd left behind. The royal family bowed, and nodded allowing the Shitennou to stand.

"Kunzite, Nephrite, Jadeite, and Zoisite, you will lead our armies to greatness. You will act as guardians to Endymion, maintain Elysian's peace, and keep eye on your governments. Most importantly, you are family here. If there is anything you require, please don't hesitate to ask. I must introduce my son and heir, Endymion." The King's voice was gruff but kind toward the men. Kunzite noticed the queen had taken her husbands arm and smiled kindly at his side, affection that made it easy for him to love the royal family. It also made him yearn for something that he couldn't place but it was something between the King and Queen.

The Queen ushered the young Prince off to bed with a kiss to his forehead and promise that he could get to know his Guard in due time. Endymion gave a short bow to the four men who were already smitten with the boy so close to their ages.

"Goodnight, I am pleased to finally meet you." His voice was still young, only just passed that awkward stage where it wanted to deepen and the Prince shuffled away comically yawning. Jadite grinned foolishly a tired sparkle in his deep blue eyes, Zoisite smirking and stifling a yawn himself- those are contagious you know. The King smirked, gesturing behind the small group a couple young women stepped forward blushing furiously at the uniformed men. The amusement only reached Nephrite's eyes, and of course Kunzite was a statue.

"These girls will show you to your quarters, again let us know if you need anything." The King spoke, his voice booming in Kunzite's ears and he assumed it was because he was just that tired. "It's been a very eventful day, please take your time in getting settled. I need you rested but we will go over agendas and details soon. The ceremony for Knighthood will take place at the weeks end, otherwise I leave you the next days to get settled and acquainted. Above all, please make yourself at home."

"Thank you Your Highness, we are grateful for your hospitality." Kunzite's voice was nearly a murmur because words were becoming impossible to form and he turned to follow the girls, the young Generals falling close behind him.

"Please Lord Kunzite, this is your home. It's not hospitality, you are not a guest here." The Queen spoke up, her voice was soft but demanding and Kunzite politely turned and bowed with his thanks to her. He practically pushed the girls out of the room to find his bed, becoming desperate for a hot shower and sleep.

The Shitennou were gifted with their own wing of the castle. An upper level of rooms nearby the Prince's chambers which were surprisingly far from the Royal wing but the insanely vast gardens were pressed right up against their wing with a private entrance that opened directly out into them. Endymion had his own private entrance and Kunzite found that each Shitennou had a portion of the gardens all their own. Something he was far too tired to explore as he followed the younger girls through the wide double doors intricately carved with a compass signifying their four regions. Four doors lined the long hallway, two on each side, hinting at massively large suites. There were two more double doors at the end of the hallway, a huge library with office space for Kunzite who had a private entry directly into the large study from his room at the very end of the hall.

Kunzite stepped into his assigned room, it was dark of course but he had noted that each room had a huge fireplace, beautiful, more modern bathrooms and private balconies. His private entrance to the library was closed for the moment, the door adjacent to the main entrance. Large windows lined the outer wall with two balcony entrances. The large four poster bed was on the opposite side of the windows and Kunzite could see a sitting area and fireplace behind that next to the bathroom. There was a small table in front of the windows closer to the main entrance with a wardrobe large and already full of his things just to the left of the main entryway. It was elegant, a room fit for a King and his eye was on that bed.

Kunzite vaguely remembered the girl propositioning him when as she handed him some soft white towels, to which he considered momentarily before he gave her a cold look and snatched the towels from her and practically shut the door in her face. There was maybe a moment he felt sorry for his rudeness but delirium was winning over everything as he threw the lock in place before making sure the other door was locked as well. He sighed deeply, raking a hand down his face and he immediately began to remove the uniform, grateful to be rid of those encumbering boots and thick fabric. He stumbled naked into the pristine bathroom and turned on the hot water until it was near painful and scrubbed at his body until he was satisfied he didn't smell like the sweaty inside of a carriage. Kunzite dried himself off sufficiently, not bothering with his hair or clothes he pulled back the covers on the bed and deliriously fell in. It was blissfully soft and comfortable, and he certainly did not remember falling into a blissfully deep sleep.

The warm Sun was high, streaming in through the cracks of the curtains drawn across the windows and Kunzite momentarily forgot where exactly he was. He sat up slowly, his muscles sore still and he groaned rubbing the sleep from his eyes. The faint smell of coffee was welcoming as he dropped to the floor and stretched, further taking in the details of the dark wood in his room and the oversized chair by the clean fireplace a few feet from his bed. He pulled on a fresh uniform, opting to leave the top three buttons of the thick material open at his chest to prevent it from constricting his airflow. He didn't have a particularly thick neck but it irritated his skin and made him feel suffocated. He hoped the King wouldn't be too upset by it.

Kunzite had just finished fastening his cape to the uniform when he stepped through his private entrance to the library. It lead directly into the small alcove containing his large, pristine desk in the study where Zoisite was perched on top indian style with a book nestled in his lap and a cup of tea rest at his side. The thick rope of his blonde curls lay over his shoulder so his fingers could entwine in them as he read. Vibrant kelly green eyes shifted to Kunzite lazily when he stepped to the sideboard to pour his coffee and seemed to eye him a moment before his eyes shifted back to his book silently. It was hard to believe he was only eleven years old, Kunzite knew he would have to be more gentle with the youngest and build him up instead of intimidating him. Fear was no good motivator, this he knew from harsh experience.

"So do I call you sir? Or how does this work now?" Zoisite's eyes never left the pages of the heavy book in his lap as he spoke and the Commanding General blanched and almost spit out his coffee when he saw the child was reading about Interplanetary Culture. He had heard the myths of his neighboring region, but they were all obsessed with Gods and Goddesses and literally blamed everything on them instead of taking accountability for anything. It became hard to sort fact from fiction. Zoisite made a face at his cup of black coffee when he sat down at his desk behind the young General who was engrossed in a book far above average reading level for someone his age.

"I figure we're brothers, equals. Why be formal in private?" Kunzite leaned back in his chair and Zoisite shifted so he could better face him. He almost had a mind to tell him to get his ass off of his desk but there was something endearing about it and Kunzite was highly intrigued by this young prodigy. Plus it wouldn't hurt to make friends of the other Shitennou, he could be a brute with the rest of his armies, but his men were not just ordinary soldiers. They were all Kings, and all in this together. "Just call me Kunzite." He offered casually, taking a drink from his cup and melting against his chair as warmth spread through his body and the caffeine made him feel more alive instantly. Zoisite only gave him a nod and sat up some to take a sip of tea.

"I can respect that. You can call me Zoi if you want" He added, shifting attention back to his book. "Did you know that Mercurians have invented ways to teleport? Not just to like... other places on their planets but any planet they want? It's some mixture of magic and technology, it has to be because it's biologically impossible to just.. teleport."

"Mercurians... as in from the planet Mercury." Kunzite raised a brow, shamefully uneducated on the lives and truths of other planetary life, even if he knew it was real it was never something that the Middle East concerned itself with. He was too busy making sure his people didn't starve to death.

"Are you serious? No one gave you the rundown on interplanetary relations?" Kunzite furrowed his brow and practically chugged his coffee. He felt like a fool that some eleven year old child could make him feel so small.

"No." He responded plainly, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back in his chair. Zoisite seemed to come to life now, slamming the book shut and haphazardly tossing it to the chair in front of him while he shuffled to the floor and leaned forward on the desk against his hands.

"Ok Kunz, we have some things to go over before we meet with the King." He took a sip of tea, gloved pinky out, and his brow quirked. It was easy to see the aristocracy in his genes and yet he spoke vibrantly and casually.

"Don't call me Kunz." He frowned at the kid in front of him and he held his gloved hands up in defeat.

"Fine... " Zoisite grabbed a pad and paper, slapping it in front of the Commander and Kunzite almost regretted allowing them to be so casual. "You're going to want to take notes." Kunzite picked up the pen and raised his brow as Zoisite began explaining exactly what Interplanetary Relations were- and to Kunzite they were a full bag of unfair stipulations and laws. One by one the Shitennou filed into the library for coffee and pastry brought up by one of the house staff as Zoisite paced in in front of his desk and began to go over each planet one by one. Kunzite took general notes for now, he would do more research on his own time, but of course Jadeite had to throw his two cents in first.

"Alright Kunzite, here's how it is... that bright ass Moon you saw last night? It's only that bright over Elysian, it's Earth's guardian planet as they call it and there is a whole other civilization up there judging the hell out of us." Jadeite said casually over a mouthful of danish as they all lounged in the library. "Every planet has a civilization and they are like...Gods and Goddesses and shit. Just one of them could wipe out our whole planet, and they have the melons to be scared of us." He swallowed, laughing ironically and shook his head as he dug some dirt from under his thumbnail once the pastry was consumed. "It's bullshit if you ask me. I didn't believe it until Zoi showed me the books." -Clearly Jadeite was no diplomat, Kunzite thought to himself and nearly rolled his eyes at the crude language but just stared at Jadeite with a completely unamused expression. He thought the Eastern Kingdoms were the polite ones...

Zoisite stared at the Eastern General with wide eyes and a sneer on his lips. Jadeite was of course quite satisfied with himself and smugly took a sip of his coffee. They all stared at him like he was a moron, and Kunzite was inclined to be amused if he wasn't more stunned to hear such language from a boy no older than their young King. He decided to dig later about the Eastern cultures- last he checked they were polite and strict but this boy acted like he was raised in a whorehouse. Zoisite cleared his throat and began his more dignified explanations.

"So Mercury, we'll start with the first. This planet is super cold, and the people are the Galaxy geniuses. Any hard technology, medical breakthrough, all comes from them. They are insanely powerful minds... like beyond our scope of intelligence. They have the weakest military of course but if you ask me their brains are more lethal than any weapon forged on Jupiter- but I'll get to that. Their people have mostly blue or black hair and can manipulate water... more specifically ice. I believe it's Hermes that rules that planet but I'm pretty sure Athena runs the show there..Goddess of Wisdom and all.

Venus... is pretty much the most powerful planet next to the Moon. How this works I don't know because Aphrodite is the Goddess of Love, beauty and sex so I'm not sure how she's so powerful but the Venusians are pretty terrifying."

"Yeah, I've read aaaaallll about them." Jadeite interjected, adding yet another sugar cube to his coffee. "They are master seducers and they can smite you down with these crazy beams of light from their fingers. It's said their powers of the heart and ability to manipulate make them the deadliest in the Galaxy but I doubt that. Mostly they're just hot blonde babes that want to do you."

"Valiantly spoken." Zoisite looked anything but amused and Jadeite just smirked at the youngest who had perched himself back on Kunzite's desk. He looked bored with the snarky General and Kunzite just observed them for now where he might have put Jadeite in his place under normal circumstances. "He's not entirely wrong, an idiot yes, but not wrong. Venusians are the most beautiful race of people in the entire Galaxy and are known to have powers of seduction over the mind. Their powers and intuitions of the heart are unmatched and they do have the ability to manipulate light beams from their fingers. I am still working on uncovering the source of that light or power but it basically disintegrates matter to nothing and I'm fairly certain they can shift this power however they want. Keep in mind a lot of the nature around these cultures and their magics are mysteries to us."

"Yeah I just want one of them to seduce me." Jadeite quipped innocently and Nephrite nearly choked on a piece of his muffin.

"Idiot." Zoisite muttered, rolling his eyes. Jadeite promptly pulled a grape from one of the platters and threw it at the younger boy who looked less amused were that possible. Kunzite's gaze shifted between the two. There was no hard tension, no malice behind their childish antics and so he remained uninterferring. "Of course Earth is next, I'm sure you're at least educated on our planet of misfits with no magic so I'll not elaborate further." The kid almost sounded envious. "Mars is ruled under Aries, probably one of the only male rulers in the inner rim of the Galaxy. These people are utterly terrifying. They are firebenders, highly psychic and the fiercest fighters you would ever see. They are master weapons crafters but most of the weaponry is forged and supplied by Jupiter. Martians are basically unstoppable though if you think about it. Psychic on a battlefield is a terrifying prospect if you ask me."

Kunzite nodded, furiously scribbling notes down, more intrigued than ever about these beings. Also more terrified, feeling like he'd been living under a microscope his whole life now. Observed and judged by these all powerful Gods and Goddesses that could end them all if they wanted.

"Jupiter... just about as scary as Mars but where they lack in psychic abilities, they make up with brute strength. They are naturally the powerhouses of the Inner Alliance and master weapons crafters. Oh and I forgot to mention they can wield lightning, don't ask me how but these people can control and manipulate atmospheres to produce storms." Zoi took breath, drinking his cooling tea a moment and he raised his brow at the older man he was currently educating. "There are countries in my lands that claim Zeus, the ruler of Jupiter, is God himself if it tells you anything."

"Only thing I have heard he's God of is sleeping around." Jadeite remarked with a chuckle that was cut short by Kunzite's hard stare. Zoisite rolled his green eyes and continued.

"Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are all part of the Outer Alliance... we really don't want to mess with them. They are known as the Old Gods, those who have written a lot of the laws placing Earth against the rest of them. They are powerful enough to destroy a planet without a thought but are otherwise rather mysterious." Kunzite's brows lifted and he cleared his throat.

"Explain." He demanded and Zoisite sighed, placing his cup back on the desk gently.

"Uranus and Neptune are the only ones with normal guardians. They're far more powerful than the Inner Alliance but they keep to themselves. They all do really so I don't think we have much to fear of them. Uranus is a war planet like Mars but they are able to shift lands and bend terrain where Neptune can manipulate water. Basically they're walking natural disasters. Pluto and Saturn remain unknown to us to a great degree, though it's said Plutonians have the ability to manipulate time itself, or they guard the Gates of Time said to lie at the very outer reaches of our system, guardians of the Underworld which I presume they speak of Saturn. Saturn is Guardian of Destruction and Rebirth, wielding a weapon said to be more potent than the Silver Crystal the Moon Queen wields and somehow still not as powerful. Legend states that Saturn is born an infant and dies as an old crone in cycles. She is immortal and to be kept dormant. We don't know anything else." Zoisite shivered, green eyes drifting over to Jadeite who had grown serious as well. Nephrite appeared far away, gazing off to the side with a solemn expression.

"I'm guessing Saturn is what we have to fear." Kunzite took a long drink of his coffee, keeping his composure and he folded his hands over his stomach, gazing at Zoisite who looked nervous to say the least.

"Saturn is death and reincarnation... she is all powerful." Kunzite motioned for Zoi to continue when he seemed to stumble on his words. "We've observed that the outer rim keeps her at bay but our knowledge of anything outside the Silver Alliance is limited at best."

"And yet the Moon overpowers all of them how?" Kunzite asked, leaning forward to rest on his elbows against the desks surface with his ever collected frown. He'd been surprised how quiet the other boys remained, maybe because they too hadn't learned all this themselves for one reason or another and for the briefest of moments it dawned on him how short they had lived before being thrust into the center of their planet and this mess of overly powerful beings who gazed down upon them with such disdain.

"Well, the Moon alone holds the power of the Silver Crystal. The equal to Earth's Golden Crystal. Surely you felt its power rolling over these lands when you arrived. It is well hidden and guarded, waiting for the only Terran that can wield it to be ready and according to the legends that could very well be Endymion. The Silver Crystal is a sentient stone and only the lineage of Lunarian royalty can hold it and command its power. It is so powerful that it could undo Saturn's magic if the heart is pure enough and is said to hold the ability to bring back the dead, cleanse evil, and work miracles that we won't ever really know about. It's unknown what our Crystal could do too."

"It sounds like there are a lot of variables." Kunzite muttered, earning a nod from the youngest of them.

"I created an initiative in my lands to learn all we could since they are also responsible for much of the confusion with their foolish tales. As Terrans I also think we should be well informed of their intentions and any movement within their Alliances as they form. It is common knowledge that the Moon Queen seeks to initiate the Silver Millenium, the ultimate peace centered around the Silver Crystal and the rising of four elite soldiers of their own. All you really need to know for now is Terrans are not allowed to interact with them. There are more specific rules, but no interaction is the safest interaction."

"I'm vaguely aware." Kunzite looked unamused, noting how Jadeite had stopped paying much attention in favor of browsing one of the bookshelves, Nephrite looked bored and was fidgeting with a pocket knife and Zoisite just looked a bit worried, glancing down at the book he had picked back up. "Well we don't have to learn every detail today. I think it best if we join our King and get to know our Prince."

"It's only fair you know, that our Master is the one to show us the ropes around here." Nephrite quipped with a wink, pocketing his knife again and hopping to his feet. Jadeite stepped back over to join the group and Kunzite noticed how Zoisite seemed to stick by his side. The boy always seemed nervous, or afraid around the others and he guessed it had something to do with Jadeite teasing him though in observation the Eastern King seemed almost protective of their youngest. Even now as Zoi walked beside Kunzite, Jadeite was close as well, slapping Nephrite's hand away when he went to tug on the long mess of a ponytail Zoisite now let fall loose down his back.

The four stepped into a common room where Endymion was enduring a study session while the Queen sat on a sofa and read nearby. The King was no doubt busy with meetings and when the young Prince lifted his head and met eyes with Kunzite, they seemed to sparkle with excitement. Despite the stone expression of his face, the tall silver haired General's insides were churning. The boy Prince was beautiful, and when he stood quickly, knocking a few books off the table and tripping slightly over his boots. Kunzite dashed forward to catch him before he could fall to the floor. The Queen looked up, her violet eyes warming over at the sight and Kunzite's eyes widened just slightly. It had to be what love was like, the way his heart fluttered and when Endymion gave him a nervous dimpled smile he decided he'd die for this boy in an instant, without hesitation.

"Thank you... Kunzite right? Or should I call you Commander?" The thought of such formality grated Kunzite's nerves though under normal circumstance he would demand to be called by his title. Endymion raked a hand through his inky black hair and regained his composure, trying to play it cool in front of his Queen Mother.

"Please Master, you may call me Kunzite if you'd like." The Commander bowed gently and Endymion laughed, his face taken over by warmth in a carefree way that Kunzite envied.

"I hope you will just call me Endymion. Formalities are reserved for public appearances." Endymion leaned forward, his Mother's face peering over at them with distaste on her mouth. "I know you're supposed to serve me but I hope we can me more like friends." The Prince whispered, shifting his eyes to the Queen's very motherly expression. Nephrite was grinning warmly, Zoi peeking around Kunzite's cape with a slight flushed expression while Jadite smirked, his eyes darting between the Prince and Queen. There was a beat of silence where Kunzite felt lost in stars laced into Endymion's intense midnight stare.

"Well My Prince, the Shitennou and I would very much enjoy a tour of the Palace grounds if you would be so gracious. We should like to get better acquainted with you as well." The Queen laughed lightly when Endymion looked at her with excited eyes.

"Very well my Angel." The Queen spoke softly and the Prince rushed to her side to kiss her cheek. "But don't think you'll get out of studies again this week, I won't have you falling behind and you'll have plenty of sessions with General Zoisite and Commander Kunzite. They have much to teach you as well, but have fun."

"Thank you Mother!" Endymion kissed her cheek again and in a few strides stood by the door leaving a very amused Queen behind them. His youth was infectious and Kunzite lead the other boys to follow the Prince who immediately began talking a million miles an hour, leading them out toward the gardens first, Endymion's very favorite place.

It was the kind of day that leaves you feeling completed. It was the best way Kunzite thought he could describe it when he retired for the night, still tired and sore from the trip but mentally sated and appeased. They spent most of the day in the gardens, talking and getting to know each other and finding that they each felt a sense of completion they never had before. It was then that Kunzite felt it. A roll of something vibrating steadily through the lands, infusing the air with what he could only guess was magic. It was especially strong near the ruins of the original, ancient Elysian palace just at the back of the apple orchard. They teased a little in the moment when Endymion seemed spooked with a notion that his ancestors haunted it, but there was a nervous tension among the Four Kings that they felt something too.

Kunzite learned all about his Prince's green thumb and his love of roses. Kunzite was pleased to learn that just beside his portion of the garden was a vast terrace overlooking the sea with a long staircase that lead down to a private beach. Endymion showed them the stables and how there was a lake nearby under a tree in the center of a field where he had his own firepit and would come to escape. The palace grounds were vast and the Prince had no shortage of things to tell them, including all about the pretty red haired gypsy girl he liked because she could tell fortunes, and Kunzite noted that the young Prince had more knowledge about the Moon than Zoisite seemed to. As well as some very forward thinking ideas that were rather mature for his younger age. Endymion would be a master diplomat, he already had charm in spades and Kunzite knew by the end of the day he'd have to keep himself in check from giving the voracious Prince anything he wanted.

He felt love for the first time ever. A rather sharp, immediate kind of love and kinship with these younger men even when they often had him feeling like a battered nanny. There was no question after a single day that he would end his days fulfilled.


	3. Chapter 3

Kunzite's fingers drummed lazily against the polished wood of his desk. Four years had gone by in a flash of light and the trees rich with Autumn's colors held his pale gaze captivated beyond the windows behind his chair. He often thought of the beginnings, how young and fumbling they all were, thrust into a different sort of life in a whole new land most normal Terran's regarded as Legend. Four years since he'd seen the sands of his homelands and a mere two since Zara was brought to Elysium to be buried beside his Mother, Tahira, in Elysian Fields. Kunzite's lips tugged downward, almost two years to the day.

The others knew to give Kunzite his space near this time of year. It had been the only time Endymion saw the Commander's tears, and it was only Endymion he allowed to see them. They'd all grown bonds most Brother's had never been able to form, yet Kunzite still held a very thin line with the other Shitennou that they were never to see him weak. He tried so hard to keep his sorrow from Endymion, but the faint traces of magics they had begun to discover made that impossible.

They all had extremely minor healing abilities, potentially impressive if trained, but the Prince was an empath, possibly most in tune with his abilities because he embraced them where the others were more hesitant. Nephrite and Jadeite made everything a competition, including their powers. Himself and Zoisite seemed the most hesitant, and therefore were not as skilled in the ways of magic. Not that any of them were by any stretch of the imagination but Jadeite could at least heal a papercut without getting a nosebleed.

"Hey Kunzite, I think I may have found a way for our lands to avoid-" Nephrite strode into the room, only stopping when his warm brown eyes lifted from the paper in his hands to the silver haired man uncharacteristically staring out the window as though he were miles away.

"Going to war." Kunzite finished for him, shifting better in his seat to address the larger man. Nephrite had filled out over the years, growing a few inches taller than himself and built even sturdier it appeared with vigorous training. The man was the size of a house.

"I can leave it for you to review later if you'd like." Nephrite gave that big friendly smile he had and leaned with both hands on the back of the chair in front of him. "Let me buy you a drink later, we can discuss it then. You're due for a night away."

"Dawn's barely broken and you're already itching for a drink? Bit young to start aren't you?" Kunzite quirked what most would call was a pathetic excuse for a half smile, which was really all anyone could pull from him most days. "I thought I was the only one awake."

"I think I managed to wake up at the same ungodly hour as you for once." Nephrite chuckled lightly, ignoring the Commander's comment and stood tall, something knowing and somewhat sympathetic in his smile. They knew, but no one would talk about Zara. "Well I know it's about time for Endymion to wake, I'll leave you to it may God have mercy on your sorry ass. I don't know how you do it every morning."

"I'll take you up on that drink later, I'll put it that way." Kunzite had already begun to read the provided report from Nephrite, not one to waste time on idle conversation, but it made the taller man beam. "This is good, we'll discuss it later. I'll have a full day, do you think you can manage to run drills today? I must meet with the King once I get Endymion up and the others to their lessons, thn I am appointed to meet with our Government heads and grant them a tour of the city. I'll try and bring up some of these points to prevent war to our leaders and gauge their reactions."

"They put you in charge of speaking for more than two seconds?" Nephrite blew through his lips and ignored the icy stare Kunzite shot him. "I'd be happy to run drills for you but you'll be the one buying me a drink later because then I'll have to put up with Zoi's whining that you aren't the one leading them. I'd say it's adorable but as he gets older it's just a bit more concerning that he still thinks the Sun shines out of your ass."

"Watch it." Jadeite bit as he shuffled sleepily into the room, his hair still sticking up at odd angles. Nephrite scoffed and looked behind him as the younger General plopped in an armchair nearby.

"You're one to talk. You give the kid more grief than anyone." All of their eyes lit up when one of the house staff brought in their usual sideboard breakfast of hot coffee and some sort of protein rich dish he knew he wouldn't have time for. Kunzite nodded his gratitude and Nephrite was of course offered a kind smile and thanks that left the poor girl flushing to the roots. He'd accuse him of being a damned flirt, because it'd be true, but it was just the way Nephrite was. Kind.

"Yeah well it's different when I give Zoi shit Neph... he knows I don't mean anything by it." Jadeite staggered over to grab a cup of coffee, loaded with cream, and slid a black cup across the desk to Kunzite. He practically chugged it, reaching for his outline of Endymion's agenda for the day and glancing over it while Nephrite and Jadeite continued their banter in the background. Everything was a competition between those two.

"Jade, go make sure Zoi is up and ready for lessons. Nephrite, I will perhaps arrange a meeting with our government heads tonight before they depart and we can sit with them over that drink to discuss." Nephrite made a face but nodded his agreeance.

"Only if there are more drinks once they leave. Better to have the four of us talk it through than just you and I. Pity being King no longer just stops war with a simple command if both Kings agree." Kunzite stood, giving Nephrite an agreeing glance, following the other two from the room to get Endymion moving for the day.

He always began his day waking Endymion, going over his agenda for the day with the Prince while he got ready for his schooling and seeing that he actually made it to Zoisite and Jadeite who attended the same lessons. Then Kunzite would see to matters of his own Kingdom and report to the King where he would give his reports on the surrounding Kingdoms. The King also took it upon himself to allow Kunzite to shadow him, and try teaching him matters that weren't commonly taught under the umbrella of a standard education. Now in his twenties, Kunzite often found it redundant if not endearing that his King cared so much.

The poor King thought Kunzite paid no attention to the ways of the gentleman, the manners and courtesy a woman should be extended as his reputation seemed to had followed him to Elysium. However Kunzite watched this intently in the ways he treated his Queen respectfully, lovingly, and always placed her ahead of himself. The problem in Kunzite's eyes, was he dealt with common whores and women with no pride in themselves. Women who simply needed a man to fill her night with a distraction that he was mutually interested in.

Of course it did lend to the occasional, often attachment these women claimed to have to him. Kunzite chalked it up to a matter of status, a game common women played, and played often. Anything to gain status to ensure themselves a comfortable life. This alone was why he did not envy Endymion when the time came for him to choose a bride. The stories were all often blown out of proportion of course, palace gossip. Not to say he didn't enjoy the company of a woman, but the outlandish stories came almost nightly and from multiple women. He'd laugh to himself in private because he did have stamina but it was maybe twice a week he'd venture to the taverns, hardly the nightly scandal they chalked it up to be.

"Your highness, all due respect." He interrupted one of the King's lessons and the rounder man shifted his gaze with an amused smile. He'd heard Kunzite's speeches before, and was always so thrilled at the Commander's loyalty- but knew one day his views might change. "I am content at the side of your family, in service to the armies of Elysium and the people who live here. I have no intent or interest to bear Sons or marry. I am aware of my behavior with women, I do not offer them anything they do not ask me for. Contrary to what your sources might tell you that is."

"One day...I hope there is such a woman that can take your stone heart and turn it to fire. You have been soldered under Aphrodite as the Knight of Purity and Affection. Named for a stone of true love and connectivity..as the very leader of the Shitennou we had thought you might bear those attributes." Kunzite offered what he could of a smile. It was a rare placed thing on his face but suited him in ways that not many ever saw. "Goddess knows you have enough women banging on my castle doors for your affections."

"My King...those attributes are what holds my loyalty to your family. Not all love is romance and passion for a singular person. I love Endymion, this is true, your Son keeps me younger and shows me things I wouldn't have thought of before. He is a forward thinker where I've always been more traditional. He challenges me to infuriation sometimes I'll admit." Kunzite shifted his gaze to the table in front of him and the King smiled warmly, effectively halting his speech.

"Are you certain you aren't in love with Endymion? Were my Son interested in men, you would make a fine King for his side." Kunzite's heart leapt to his throat and he was certain he flushed the way his face grew warm and he felt a bead of sweat snaked down the back of his neck.

"No... my King...I know it is a common thing in perhaps Zoisite's lands for two men to engage that way.. " King Adrian laughed loudly.

"It is fine that you fancy women better. I do also of course but the way you two are stuck to the other I wanted to be certain. There's no shame in it." Kunzite exhaled slowly and raised his brow. "I know your lands are strict about such things but if I have learned anything as ruler of all realms it is that love is simply love, we don't get to choose that affection. The heart wants what the heart wants." The King's face was almost too warm as he smiled at Kunzite who merely peered back, his grey eyes serious as always.

"I only wanted you to know that your lessons don't fall upon deaf ears." He frowned and fidgeted with a pen on the table. He was too distracted to correct the silver plaits of hair that fell over his shoulder.

"You're an observant man Kunzite, I don't doubt that should a woman worthy of your affections exist you will know how to handle her. You're in your twenties now, hopefully she finds you soon, we aren't as long lived as some." He nodded slowly and noted the time. "You would probably find her faster if you smiled more, I've heard you speak out of passion and dare I say you have the soul of a poet. Of course when you speak more than two words at a time."

"Of course my King." Kunzite muttered, looking out the window with the sudden urge to disappear. It was strange to behold his King and think 'Father' instead. Even in the letters he'd written back and forth with the man since he was a child suggested parental caring that his own Father failed to provide. A faith that he would no doubt be one of Earth's greatest warriors and guardians- expectations that set Kunzite determined not to fail in his duties. Overall he was doted over, as were the other Shitennou with promise of greatness though his parental appreciations and lectures often set the stoic General on edge. King Adrian seemed to know he was uneasy, business was a safer topic with the Warlord.

"I wanted to go over some events coming up in regards to the Silver Millennium." Kunzite's stare snapped with undivided attention back to his King and he leaned forward on the table. This seemed to amuse the older man. "In a few weeks, a bit after your twenty fifth year, the Queen and I will have to escort the Goddess Aphrodite on an errand to complete Queen Serenity's ultimate peace. We aren't to discuss details mind you but we are making arrangements now and it will occupy much of my time. You will be left in charge in our absence as we will be gone for a few weeks. I expect you'll allow Endymion to take over my duties, but I would like you to guide him."

"Of course my King." He thought a moment, shifting his eyes back toward the aging man. "You've met these Goddesses?" Kunzite was merely curious, as any mortal man under their skies was. He was not an advocate for these Goddesses, their formed Silver Alliance , their laws and rules had purpose and he respected them, but the treatment and displacement of Earth itself was offensive. He tried to see Endymion's point of view when he was told that they did nothing but protect the Earth until their day to prove themselves came. Kunzite often wondered what the cost of this would be.

"I have met a few of them, yes. We meet with Queen Serenity once a cycle. I have met with the Goddess of Love, Aphrodite and have even been introduced to the young Lunar Princess, but I wouldn't worry yourself with them. Serenity has a noble goal, and perhaps one day it will be Endymion that proves our people are just as capable as theirs. They are kind as they are beautiful my boy, and twice as forbidden, and we don't want to be on the receiving end of their wrath."

"I should report to the conference room, the others will be finishing their lessons and I must meet with our four leaders." Kunzite further proved his point with his ability to shift the conversation in few words, utterly changing the topic. The King slapped a jovial hand on his shoulder and grinned, ushering the tall Soldier from the room. It bothered him that they would allow one of the Goddesses to use their planet when it was highly unlikely that they would grant audience to one of their courts- not that they had a means of travel to allow it.

"Of course." The King grinned, "but we will want to discuss arrangements in our absence. This is a very quiet event so things should run around here as they always do." Kunzite nodded and offered the standard Elysian bow. "You're a good man Kunzite. A great man if you put your mind to it, though I think it's your heart that will need the practice in the end. You think too much with your head."

"I will try My King." He responded, slowly turning down the hallway toward the conference room all too eager to part himself from the conversation.

It was a few weeks, just before the King and Queen departed for their errand in regards to the Silver Millennium that he received word that the war between his lands and Nephrites was halted, for now anyways. Kunzite celebrated with a glass of bourbon he'd grown ever fond of and sat at his desk in the company of the other men in various states of lounging near his desk, talking quietly or reading though the only thing Jadeite was content to read was erotica as he was making the shift into manhood with concerning urgency. Kunzite was certain they'd have to chain him in the dungeon at some point to keep him from mauling anything with female anatomy. He was grateful to Zoi who snatched the book from his hands in passing before he hopped up to his spot on Kunzite's desk.

"Keep it on your own time loverboy." He muttered, tossing the book to the side. The two glared at each other but Kunzite's intense stare kept it from turning into one of their famous brawls.

"So they are really forming the Silver Millennium." Kunzite stated, breaking the silence of the room in his calm voice. He'd just been reading the same book Zoisite was reading on their first day, about the Interplanetary Relations and even some rough blueprints of how the Silver Millennium would be structured, he was shocked to find that it nearly mimicked Earths. Nephrite nodded slowly, and Zoisite turned to look at him with his knowing green eyes from on top of his desk.

"It's true. Apparently it's Aphrodite is the cause of the King and Queen's errand, the stars say a great love is coming and something about the spinning of red thread." Nephrite was sipping a glass of ice water, chewing thoughtfully on one of the cubes and leaning against one of the massive bookshelves that he'd probably match in size one day the way he kept eating and training. "Apparently that's when they are saying the Silver Millennium will be completed whatever that means."

"Who knows, it's not like anyone will tell us. Your damned stars are just as cryptic!" Jadeite bit, standing and stepping slowly toward Zoi in a sneaky attempt to steal back his adult literature. "They can throw all the armory, technology, and weapons and stuff they want but what it boils down to is they're afraid of Endymion." He reached over to give Zoisite a wet willy and got punched in the arm for it. He smirked in Zoi's distraction and stole the book back, shuffling back toward the armchair he was occupying to find that Nephrite had taken his seat. The taller boy gave a wide toothy grin and shrugged forcing Jadeite to stand against the sideboard where there was always fresh coffee and ice water.

"Mmm." Kunzite gave an agreeing hum, grey eyes peering down in thought at the book in his lap. Effectively ignoring the antics of the other three. "They fear magic. I assume that if our abilities grow they will fear us too."

"Well we were born with magic on some level..." Zoi spoke knowingly. Fear was the number one reason behind rebellion, and Terrans feared nothing like they feared magic. "Endymion could be the first of any man that could wield the Golden Crystal. It's said the crystal is well hidden and guarded by a strange creature not far from here. It will appear as an angelic boy to the person meant to hold the Crystal's magic but mostly a white horse with dove's wings. It's how they knew we were the Shitennou...we all had a dream of that very creature. Legend states we are part of that myth, guardian to it's holder which would mean Endymion." Kunzite could tell the young boy didn't believe in much he couldn't see or touch by the bored expression in his green eyes as he twisted a blonde curl around his finger.

"The longer we're exposed to the Golden Crystal the more we're supposed to be able to work with whatever magic we're gifted with." Nephrite yawned as he spoke and shifted in his stolen chair. Endymion joined them shortly of course, Kunzite never found him far from his side on a normal day but he often brought light to the conversation, even if like Jadeite his questions sometimes drifted toward girls and he had to monitor them like a rattled nanny.

The harvest season approached, the chilly nights and vibrant leaves enhanced Elysium's beauty like Kunzite had never seen. He hated the cold but the Moon was large and round above them, ever brighter with the stars in the cloudless sky. There was something magical about it that evening after they bid farewell and safe travel to the King and Queen who were off to meet with a real live Goddess and excitement hummed in the air as the group of boys headed off toward their field for the evening for a bonfire. Kunzite lived for these nights though his silent and stone like demeanor was not telling, he was content to listen to their sometimes idiotic chatter and take in the beauty of their home.

Zoisite was draped over his back, his legs looped through Kunzite's arms while he read aloud from a book about Aphrodite since of all the Goddesses there seemed to be the most information about the Goddess of love, beauty, and sex. She was apparently not very shy, and Kunzite decided he rather liked listening to the more erotic tales of their culture. Nephrite kept trying to swipe the bottle of bourbon he had tucked tightly in his back pocket, grateful for Zoi who would swat at him with the book. Endymion stared blankly up at the Moon by his side, Jadeite surprisingly quiet with the exception of smart assed remarks. He kept calling Zoi Princess and Nephrite would reach over to flick him in the cartilage of his ear rather hard until it was red.

"Are you worried for your parents?" Kunzite asked, raising his brow at the dreamy Prince beside him. Endymion's blue eyes shifted up toward Kunzite and he smiled, shaking his head.

"No...I was just thinking about them. The Goddesses, and Gods, Magic... the Silver Millennium... it's romantic don't you think? Ultimate peace and happiness..." Kunzite's lips twitched down and he briefly glanced up at the sky while Zoi continued to read above his head.

"No...I don't." It was well known Kunzite's distrust of them, the unfair treatment of their people. He was only too content to pretend they didn't exist though nights like tonight would be difficult for them to do so.

"Powerful as Gods or not, don't you think they're probably just the same as us? They have feelings as well, families, friends, and loved ones just like we do." Leave it to Endymion to humanize Gods and make them not seem so threatening. It was one of his more endearing and dangerous qualities, his empathy.

"It doesn't change their mistrust in us, they could crush us like ants." Kunzite remarked grimly, his pale grey stare remaining forward toward their destination.

"Why would they though? We've done nothing to harm them, my father has made it very clear that slow and steady wins the race. The Elysian family has a very long history of diplomacy with them, taking every opportunity to show them that we are as dignified and worthy as they are." Zoi had stopped his reading, the group seeming to become more interested in the arguments between Commander and Prince.

"By allowing them access to Earth without ever being invited to meet with their council?" Kunzite's voice raised slightly as did his brow. Endymion's face was almost as serious as his own, he almost cracked a smile at it. "It sounds like we are but a mat they wipe their feet on."

"Kunzite... one day I'm going to the Moon." The Prince's face lifted to the sky again, Zoi tried to peer down at Kunzite's expression and Jadeite was whispering something to Nephrite behind their backs. Probably a scheme to get the booze. Endymion stared dreamily up at the Moon again, Kunzite sometimes felt their eyes all peering down at them from what he imagined were silver thrones.

"No. You're not." He muttered, Endymion's eyes shifted up at him again and he made a face.

"You watch me Kunzite, I'm going to make things right with them and one day there will be a big celebration in honor of our alliance." This actually made Kunzite laugh. Such a rare event that his voice echoed over the field in laughter instead of the typical command that they all stopped and stared at him with slacked jaws.

"No. We won't." He bit between chuckles, ruffling Endymion's hair with a smile that brought warmth to his cold grey eyes and revealed a well concealed dimple in one cheek. He had always been a handsome man, but even Endymion seemed caught off guard by the dashing nature of his smile.

"Shut up Kunzite. We aren't any different from them. So they have power... who cares?" The Prince tore his stare away as they arrived at their well loved fire pit. Jadeite began to speculate what the Goddess of Love looked like, in the lewdest fashion imaginable of course. Kunzite found he was only like this around Zoisite who would become mortified and try to block out his voice with incessant chatter about some technological advancement that went way above Kunzite's head. Endymion went on to ask Nephrite about each star in the sky as it popped up in the sky that matched the Prince's eyes. Zoisite tried to interject of course, only to be corrected by Nephrite who threatened to knock him out if he didn't stop trying to correct him.

Perfect nights like this were precisely why Kunzite loved the younger men. They admired him, he could see it in every question Zoisite posed, in each failed attempt by Jadeite for him to talk about his sexual encounters, or even the philosophical conversation he and Nephrite had sometimes late into the morning hours. Kunzite found there were many of their own attributes as younger men that he admired and sometimes envied.

"The Moon and Venus are extra bright tonight, they must be celebrating." Endymion spoke softly, his starlit gaze lifted toward the heavens in wonder at Kunzite's side. He was chewing on a piece of grass between the rare sip of bourbon that Kunzite offered him and he himself was feeling pleasantly buzzed.

"What do you mean? Ow, shit!" Kunzite growled as Jadeite pushed the needle through his ear, adorning the lobe with crystal spears of almost clear kunzites that hung from simple studs. He took another swig of the amber fluid, the haze keeping him from really feeling much more than the pinching feeling from the piercing. Jadeite snug a drink of the bourbon himself as he sanitized the needle to do the other ear with a clean handkerchief.

"Well the Venusian ceremony is soon, I'm sure they're all celebrating." The Prince answered, thoughtfully fingering a wild flower he'd picked on the way. "It's strange that these planets are all ruled by women isn't it? Goddesses?"

"Count me in!" Jadeite exclaimed as he simultaneously pushed the needle through Kunzite's other ear earning a faint growl from the larger man. He tried to swipe the bottle again but Kunzite swiftly pulled it from his reach. Jadeite cursed at him again, Kunzite's cold grey eyes glaring at him as he took a long drink.

"C'mon Kunzite, Endymion's had some... don't be an ass!" The older General smirked, taking another smug drink from the bottle and eyeing the young blonde with a highly arched brow.

"The King's gonna be pissed about those earrings man, I hope he chops your head off." Kunzite laughed again, he was a bit of a rebel amongst them as hard headed as he was about the rules, he often did things his way from the way he wore his uniform to the gemstones now dangling from his earlobes. Small things that otherwise had little effect over his performance. Nephrite had inspired the act, of course his ears were pierced with simple studs of his namesake and hardly noticeable with his thick head of long brown waves. He was a silent audience to their conversation about the Goddesses, their speculations which were mostly perverse or grossly exaggerated but by this time Kunzite was rather buzzed and found it amusing where he might have been annoyed before. "Any more real details about these Goddesses?" Jadeite seemed serious for once, voice somewhat wistful as he lay back against the cushion of the grass.

"Not really..." Endymion lay back beside Jadeite, Kunzite eyeing the two from his perch on a log, bottle still in hand. "I know just about as much as you guys about the Goddesses. My father has met some of them. Strange to think that there will be four guardians to the Moon Princess when I have four guardians as well. Think it means anything?"

"I think it means Queen Serenity just adopted our structure is all." Zoi sat to Kunzite's other side on the log, toying with a wildflower he'd found. "She's just slapping the Silver Millennium label on it." He begun pulling the petals off the flower one by one and letting them float on the chilled breeze.

"Well I'm hoping by the time I'm King I can find a way to end this stupid tension. I'm hoping whatever abilities I have, I can at least give us an even playing ground. I'd like to see the Moon one day..." Kunzite scoffed silently, lifting his pale eyes to the moon briefly before taking a long drink.

"Can we just talk more about the Goddesses?" Jadiete's snarky voice interrupted the serious nature of their conversation and Kunzite chuckled to himself as the other boys laughed and erupted in wild conversation again. Not his finest moment, but after more of the bottle in his hand was consumed than he should have, Kunzite challenged Nephrite to a sparring match. Nephrite was nearly as big as he was by this time of course, and damned near as strong. Of course Kunzite cut their less than coordinated wrestling match short when he noticed that Jadeite had grabbed the remaining little of the bottle and had begun to retell Zoisite his favorite erotic stories in grosser detail than the author had probably intended. Zoi's face was beet red, Jade's arm strung lazily over the younger General's shoulder with that wicked gleam in his eye. Kunzite conceded to Nephrite, both men laughing when he grabbed the bottle from Jadeite's hand and told him to knock it off.

It was pure comedy that Jadeite appraised his superior, still roughed up and intoxicated, and decided to tackle him. Kunzite wasn't sure if he was that drunk or if the younger boy had grown so strong but he obliged the challenge. Even inebriated, Kunzite ended up sitting on Jadeite's back, finishing the bottle while the younger man laughed, struggling beneath his weight and begging him to get off of him. Kunzite had to be impressed that he'd actually landed a few really good blows.

Training was brutal the next day, everything was with the raging headache that greeted Kunzite upon awakening along with the spectacular knot on the side of his head.

"Damn Jadeite... " He muttered as he stood under a hot shower and forced himself to report to the training ground to lead drills. Of course Jadeite took advantage of that knot during sparring, Kunzite couldn't even allow himself to be angry. If an enemy has a weakness, find and use it was a lesson he'd taught them, Jadeite always was the more cunning of them in combat, borderline a dirty fighter. Weeks went by, each morning the Shitennou gathered for breakfast and Zoisite would read the daily letters the Queen wrote them about their travels to let them all know that they were well. The Queen was an avid and beautiful writer and the words scrolled out on the read parchment left even Kunzite wistful and longing as though he could almost see everything she described.

This particular morning, they boys all gathered with an eagerness that Kunzite rarely saw, like children at storytime. This would be the letter that the Queen would write after the ritual that Aphrodite had come to their planet to perform. Nephrite seemed the most eager really because he refused to tell any of them what the stars spoke of, he wanted to see if they were right. Zoi sat on Kunzite's desk per usual, his legs dangling over the edge now because the boy was growing taller and it was harder for him to cross his legs indian style as he had before. Endymion, Nephrite and Jadeite had pulled chairs up in front of the desk, each drinking coffee or tea and eating fruit or pastries left by the house staff. Kunzite sat at his place behind his desk, his expression not betraying his own excitement as Zoisite shifted his ponytail behind him and broke the golden seal of the letter in his hands.

 _'My dearest Endymion & Angelic Kings,_

 _It is with a heavy heart that I cannot describe the wonders that I have witnessed for they are secrets belonging to the Silver Millennium, but I can only tell you that I have witnessed radiant and blinding beauty of the Gods and the gentle spirit of Love herself. The oceans here are blue and brilliant green like our planet and the wind was heavy with song and joy. Never has there been a more beautiful event and dare I say there never will be again?_

 _Aphrodite is the Goddess of Love, and Beauty for a reason my boys. Her hair was like the Sun and fell in cascading curls around her. Her eyes were like liquid gold and full of all of the love of the Universe. It is impossible to describe her beauty, her perfection because she was near blinding to behold. Her very essence filled the entire shore with a calming love that I will not soon forget._

 _The Goddess Aphrodite is a gentle Goddess, she is good to the King and I as well as sends blessings to our beautiful Prince. I am full of so much joy and love that the King has little idea of what to do with me I'm afraid, but if I have learned anything it is that love knows no boundaries and defies time itself. It gives me hope that you boys will know the love that I have known, and that perhaps one day Endymion will unite us with these kind and gentle Goddesses because we have nothing to fear of them._

 _I know this letter is wistful and romantic, full of hope and love and all of the best wishes of my heart. It is not a story of beautiful cities and countryscapes as my previous ones but after this event I only think of love in all its forms. We will return home in two weeks time, I hope all is well in Elysium._

 _Kindest Regards,_

 _Your Queen'_

Zoi looked up, the men looked near bored except Endymion who was on the edge of his seat. Kunzite felt a bit of unease in his stomach and wondered if the Queen had been bewitched by the Goddess Aphrodite with the knowledge that Venusians were capable of such things. Jadeite was clearly disappointed, probably because more detail wasn't given about Aphrodite and Nephrite was lost in thought.

"Well. I was hoping for more information than that." Zoi said slowly, folding the letter and placing it on the desktop.

"You and me both." Jadeite muttered, brushing some crumbs from his uniform with a hand. Zoi and Kunzite gave him a daring glare at the same time and Endymion sat back with a wistful smile.

"Wow...I wish I could have been there... I wish she could have told us what the ceremony was for, what it entailed..." Kunzite's lips threatened to quirk into a smile and he leaned against the desk on his elbows.

"Some things are better left unsaid." He responded quietly. Endymion sighed, his eyes rolling skyward before he stood up.

"I'm going to meet Beryl, she might know something and I promised her I'd let her give me a reading." Kunzite frowned. The girl had been hanging around the palace lately, doing odd jobs and serving as a sage to the King and Queen despite her youth. She made Kunzite uneasy though he'd be lying if he said she wasn't beautiful. She had pale skin, long red hair that fell in waves down her back and emerald colored eyes that always seemed to pierce him. It was clear that she was in love with Endymion, not that it was hard to do so. She was one of many women eyeing the Prince who was becoming a man quickly and eligible to choose a bride in three years time. The only difference, was the girl was said to have Earth magic and did fortune telling. As a common girl from one of the small towns in the woods not far from there, Kunzite stayed very leary of her.

"Should I join you?" He heard himself offering, there was something about Beryl that he didn't like though others often accused him of being jealous of the girl who Endymion spent time with on occasion. He was only doing his job as protector.

"No... that's okay. You have a lot going on with Mom and Dad gone. We'll just be in the gardens anyway." His frown deepened but he nodded. Endymion knew the pale haired General would make his way down there all too soon to monitor them if he wanted him to or not.

"Do not lead the girl on Endymion, it's clear she feels something for you. A heartbroken girl with magic is not anything we want to take chances on." He grumbled. Endymion laughed, rolled his eyes again and strode from the room, Kunzite's grey eyes following him the entire time. Like that, the day continued fairly normally but something between the letter from the Queen and Beryl set his teeth on edge the rest of the day and of course later he found himself lingering in the gardens, grateful that the young sage girl hadn't stayed long.

The few weeks it took the King and Queen to return felt like a blur for Kunzite remaining as busy as he was in their absence, the winter months coming and going just as fast with all their festivities. It was one of the first warm days that Kunzite took a days leave of his duties to take a much needed breath of air. His boots and slacks no longer bothered him but opted for a much thinner shirt, his sword forever at his side. The warm breeze felt like a lovers touch through his hair as he walked along the black cliffs near the palace. The sea had always brought Kunzite peace and yet he was completely alone out there, and felt it suddenly.

He noticed in moments like this where he was left to his own devices with no task or duty to perform he felt an emptiness he'd convinced himself wasn't there. He had his fellow Shitennou, he had Endymion and even the King and Queen and frowned to himself when he thought of Zara. Thought of her words and hopes for love outside the nightly romps with the girl of the hour. They didn't mean anything and was it meaning he was seeking?

"Ridiculous..." He muttered to himself and began the trek back to the city. It would help to be closer to people and he'd be close enough to the taverns when they opened that he could find one of those meaningless girls and plenty of drink.

Kunzite entered through the artisan district, not an area he'd typically wander through but someone was playing happier music and he felt his spirits lift ever so slightly with the laughing and dancing of smaller children in the streets with their Mother. The smell of fresh bread filled the air and mingled with spices and incense that almost reminded him of home. His pale eyes tried to take it all in, shifting accidentally through the door of an unassuming shop tucked in a corner and full of art. There was a very faint flash of gold that caught his eye and remained concealed behind another painting at the back of the small shop. Paintings really weren't Kunzite's thing but he ducked into the doorway, the shop seeming unoccupied by anything but rows of paintings to be sifted through.

He shifted the paintings delicately, noting that the gold that had attracted him was part of a rather nice frame but he could now see the makings of a seascape the more obstructions he moved from it. When the final painting was carefully tucked aside, he felt the air leave his lungs, and a heartbeat that became erratic and bewildering.

It was a large painting, as though the artist simply plucked the sea with his fingers and transported it into the background beneath a brilliantly painted Sun that struggled to break free of the well painted clouds. The foreground was simple enough, of a small beach lined with tall grasses-all well painted but unassuming otherwise, it was the subject of the painting that had stolen Kunzite's breath.

It was a woman, her skin like cream against the dark rocks and deeper blues and greens of the waters behind her. She was nude mostly, whatever fabric she did wear was nothing of note even, but her golden hair was impossibly long and covered only the parts of her that contained well kept secrets in wild, windblown curls. Otherwise her body was perfect, unmarked, curved, and soft as she stood at an angle gazing behind her at the painting's beholder. It wasn't as most men portrayed Aphrodite in the throes of passion or in scandalous scenarios, it was maybe one of the few times in his life that Kunzite understood the artistic side of the female form. What caught him most off guard however was her face. Her eyes were wide and bright cerulean, features soft with a sadness that made him want to weep. She looked haunted like the world rest on her shoulders, and the shopkeeper scared the shit out of him with a greeting when he stepped from seemingly nowhere beside Kunzite.

"Ah yes... this was just commissioned by one of the noblemen. They attended the ceremony and we're just waiting for the owner to pick it up." The man was old, and thin- potentially malnourished since art wasn't exactly a lucrative field to be in. "She's beautiful isn't she? I'm told this is the closest likeness to date of the Goddess Aphrodite."

"Why does she look so sad?" Kunzite asked, his voice a low soft whisper. The Shop keep chuckled, a gentle and knowing laugh.

"The Goddess of Love carries the weight of love on her shoulders sir. Imagine the prayers for love and romance she gets, blessing us daily with soulmates, families, and friends. Aphrodite carries that with her without ever knowing it herself." It made him sad, a clenching in his stomach that made him long for it too when the man explained it this way. He wanted to embrace the woman in the painting with the sad eyes and full upturned lips that wouldn't quite smile. Kunzite wondered if this feeling that seemed to consume him was what Zara spoke of, if he could feel this for another person. In all it's simple elegance, it was the most beautiful piece of art he'd ever seen- he had to have it.

"Whatever it's being sold for I'll give you ten times the amount." Kunzite muttered, pulling a pouch of coin from his belt and began counting. The old man stared up at him with wide eyes and began to stutter.

"S-sir... this was commissioned by a noble-"

"What is the price sir?" He shifted his eyes down at the man who muttered a considerable amount of money. It was trivial to Kunzite who locked eyes on the painting again while he simply handed the man his pouch of coin. It was more than the man even asked for, more like fifteen times the amount and the artist dropped to his knees in praise of the tall General's generosity.

"If the nobleman that commissioned it gives you any trouble, direct him to the palace and I will handle him. I'm General Kunzite, head of the Golden Armies. I'm not hard to find." The old man was in awe at the Heavenly King and gave a small nod, thanking him yet again for his generosity. Kunzite hoped the man would at least be able to eat now. "You're very talented sir, you should continue to paint her."

"Have you ever fallen in love General?" The man asked, resting a gentle hand on his forearm. Kunzite grew uncomfortable, not used to the sentimental artistic types and their eccentric ideals.

"No." He responded simply. The man laughed and shook his head.

"Of course you have General. You just did." Kunzite raised a brow only feeding the man's amusement. He tensed his mouth and motioned for the guards that lingered nearby to collect the painting, instructing them to remove the god awful painting of hunting dogs from the fireplace in their library and replace it with this one. He shook the artist's hand who promised to keep painting Aphrodite and departed, her haunting eyes not leaving his memory for the rest of the day.

Kunzite sat behind his desk later, drink of course at his side and feet propped up on the dark wood. The pad of paper he'd drunkenly scrawled all over rest on his thighs and he alternated staring at the painting and then the notes in varying intervals. Enemy. It was a funny sort of word, he thought as he stared intensely at the paper on his lap. He'd lost count of how many times he just sat there reading the notes of the planetary Goddesses Zoisite went over with him, along with more scrawling of his own personal research, over and over. Were they really their enemy? Or did them as Terrans make them out to be enemies based on fear alone?

Zoisite walked behind him, tugging on a lock of Kunzite's hair to grab a book off of a shelf near his desk. They'd been together a few years now and the four men indeed formed a tight knit family. They loved each other as brothers and respected each other even more, even when their banter suggested otherwise.

"Your eyes are going to bore holes in those pages soon..." Zoi muttered, selecting his book and circling around to take the seat in front of Kunzite at his desk. Kunzite smirked, dropping the pad of paper into the desk drawer beside him and closing it with a sigh, removing his feet from the desk and leaning forward on his elbows.

"We've been here for awhile now... and since Aphrodite's visit and the annual meeting with the Moon Empress, we haven't seen a soul in regards to the Silver Millennium." Kunzite tried to keep his eyes from glancing at the painting that now hung above the fireplace. It seemed like it fit there in its intricate gold frame against the dark wood. Nephrite had scoffed because it was like a woman was in their otherwise strictly male facility.

"I'd rather they left us in peace. Their snooty politics don't sit well with me." Zoi commented as he rest the book on the desk in front of him without opening it. Kunzite was proud the man Zoisite was growing into. He learned the young King spent most of his time in school, only ruling his lands for three short years when his parents died at the age of ten. He was forced to develop such wisdom and diplomacy in a short time that it rivaled most men of old age. His intelligence had gone unmatched as far as Earth went and under Kunzite's strict combat training he was becoming a deadly force on the battlefield as well.

"I can't deny that I'd kill someone to spend an hour in a Mercurian library though... but I doubt we'll see that day anytime soon." Zoi leaned back and frowned, gazing down at the weathered book in front of him.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Kunzite sat up quickly, jarring Zoi from his thoughts. He lay out a map of the universe in front of them, eyes scanning the layout of the planets which were marked and connected in red by the Outer Galaxy and the Inner Alliance that made up the Silver Millennium, and then there was Earth just hanging out there in limbo. "Why should we not be allowed to see other Kingdoms? We pose no threat to them and it would be nothing for them to punish us should we step out of line- a grim thought but true notion nonetheless." Kunzite frowned.

"You just want to go visit with all those Venusian babes." Jadeite smirked as he entered the room. "Can't say I blame you, I'm certain you'd never see me again if we could go to other planets. Just drop me off and forget about me." Jadeite grinned. "THAT, my friends is why we aren't allowed to visit other planets, Elysian would have no protectors because we'd be too busy getting lost in the seductions of beautiful blonde ladies." Jadeite pretended to woo the girl in the painting and Kunzite rolled his eyes.

"I'd sooner send you to Mars and have you burnt to a cinder than let you set foot on Venus." Kunzite grumbled.

"Who would want to go to Mars? Isn't it stupidly hot and aren't Martian's all hostile and creepy with their intuitions and fire reading? It's ruled by a man no?" He made a face and ran a hand through his mess of blonde waves. "No thank you, give me babes any day." Jadeite gestured toward the painting, master of the obvious. "That's new."

The silver haired general's pale grey eyes fell on the painting, he'd been captivated by it the moment he saw it. Elysian's black cliffs rising above the green sea, the golden haired woman standing wistfully on the sands alone with sad blue eyes. Kunzite thought it was haunting and lonely and it reminded him of how he felt sometimes, a token and testament that he did not have ice water running through his veins. His pride however, prevented him from pointing that out- so he bought the painting for quite a bit of coin.

"Hm, I hadn't noticed it." Zoisite glanced up from his book knowingly and rolled his eyes silently with the sarcastic remark before going back to his book.

"I'd bang her." Jadeite said, taking an apple from a bowl and taking a loud crunching bite, eyes still locked on the painting.

"You'd bang anything that would let you, you idiot." Kunzite muttered, picking up a pencil and going back to a map he worked on tirelessly drawing in kingdoms and continents. Jadeite grinned, taking an orange from the same bowl and winging it at Kunzite's head. Zoisite reached up and caught it without looking up from his book before it could land its target and placed it on the desk in front of Kunzite, who proceeded to begin peeling his new snack.

"Glad your boyfriend's here to protect you." Jadeite laughed wildly and briskly ran down the hall.

"You're such an asshole Jade!" Zoisite sprang to his feet, book forgotten and chased after the snarky General. Alone in the library with Aphrodite, Kunzite laughed as he slipped an orange slice between his lips. That was the morning construction of a new statue began in Kunzite's gardens. He knew of it, but requested a specific artist to do the design once he learned of the subject matter.

There was a palace full of heavy hearts the next morning with news that the Queen had fallen ill rather suddenly. She had battled illness in the past but this seemed strange to the doctors that tended to her. There wasn't anything they could do but keep her comfortable and ease her pain as much as possible. The King of course, one of the most devoted men to his wife that Kunzite had ever seen, refused to leave her side. Endymion however, the usually devoted son, did not cope so well. The Prince sought to drink himself into a stupor every night and sleep almost all day. He made a point to sit with her, talking like everything was ok before he headed out to the tavern of his choice for the night. Kunzite wanted to punch him, do anything to knock some sense into him because his family needed him.

He set up rotations, babysitting the Prince at night when they should have been guarding the palace though at the moment thankfully there didn't seem to be a need to. Scandalous rumors spread throughout Elysian of the wayward Prince who was often returned to Kunzite passed out and slung over the back of a horse by various townfolk, guardsmen, and sometimes Beryl herself much to the Mid Eastern King's dismay. Endymion was grieving before he even lost her.

The Prince came home in a particularly bad way one morning, Kunzite had Nephrite follow him to his bar of choice with strict instruction to keep a distance unless things got really bad. When he returned with Endymion, Kunzite greeted them with a frown. Nephrite had flung the drunken man over his shoulder, already covered in the contents of the Prince's stomach and exhausted from the night's events. Kunzite helped Nephrite put Endymion to bed and relieved Nephrite so he might shower multiple times and have his uniform laundered before getting some rest.

Kunzite frowned, placing one water bucket within reach in case Endymion was ill again, there couldn't be anything left in his stomach, and another of ice water. He tried to wash the Prince up the best he could, taking a clean rag and placed a damped cloth over Endymion's eyes.

"This must end Endymion... she needs you." Kunzite's well sculpted lips turned down, and all the Prince could do was groan with the beginnings of a rather intense headache. Kunzite took his guard in the large chair by the bed, not bothering to return to his own chambers. The grey light of morning had begun to seep between the curtains and he allowed his own grey eyes to shut, exhaustion finally taking hold of the General who fell fast asleep with his hands folded over his abdomen, head falling forward.

Hours later when the Sun was high, Kunzite was awakened by the Prince himself. He had already showered, dressed in his slacks, boots, and a plain white shirt, his black hair a dampened mess around his bloodshot eyes. Kunzite groaned at the horrible pain in his neck from the position he'd fallen asleep in earning an amused smirk from Endymion.

"So the rumors were wrong, you do sleep." He commented, sitting on the edge of his bed in front of Kunzite who was currently testing the mobility of his head, trying to work out the kinks in the tense and sore muscles of his neck.

"So it is true.. you do sober." Kunzite was cranky- justifiably so if you'd ask him. He tried to be understanding but Endymion and his tantrums made it somewhat difficult to be a good friend. On top of everything happening in Elysian, there was a war brewing between his and Nephrite's lands that the two spent countless hours trying to work out before things escalate an ongoing task over the nearly seven years the men occupied Elysium. Sleep was indeed an anomaly to him at this point, just another foreign concept. The smile had fallen from Endymion's face, replaced by humiliation and utter desolation.

"You're right you know...I really need to stop this." He sighed, the Prince knew his father would be useless to Elysian, and here Kunzite was running it for them, trying to stop a war in his own lands and preventing panic and famine, training his armies and simultaneously babysitting him and keeping up with his own training. Kunzite looked awful, purple bags under his eyes, his face gaunt with fatigue. "Have Jadeite run the drills today... it's about time he gets some more responsibility and you could use a day off. Let Nephrite worry about the conflict in your lands from his side today and Zoisite can get me up to date on happenings in Elysian- I don't want you to do a thing today." His grey eyes widened slightly at his Prince, unsure of what to say.

"I'll be on night shift tonight then. The others could use some sleep themselves." Kunzite remarked, getting a nod of agreeance from Endymion. " Will you be alright?" The prince nodded, standing and placing a hand on Kunzite's broad shoulder.

"It's time I stop letting her down, don't you think?" Endymion's expression grew soft, standing up straight and regal like the Prince he was meant to be. The inevitable passing of his mother, their most beloved Queen would be a tragedy no one had anticipated or prepared for. Somewhere along his drunken stupor Endymion became regal, strong, steady, and much like his mother- kind. "Now get out of here, rest, find a woman, explore, the day is yours. I'll see to it that you're not bothered and we can meet up with the others later."

Kunzite nodded, which was confirmation enough for Endymion to leave the room to be with his mother and take care of some business for his troubled father. The maids rushed in to do the cleaning, flushing when they noticed Kunzite still present in the room and proceeded to whisper feverishly to each other. One of the girls gave him a come hither look that had him standing slowly, body revolting from his sleeping arrangement the previous night and he scowled at the girls before returning to his quarters.

He took a shower that left his skin almost red from the heat to try and alleviate the pain in his muscular back and neck, crawling back into bed and trying to get his brain to shut off. Endymion was kind enough to send food up for him when he woke much later that afternoon, not bothering to wake him when he joined the other Shitennou for lunch. Kunzite sat at his desk, the empty plate left forgotten in front of him and he thought of meeting one of the Goddesses. He'd faced down bloodthirsty tribes of savages near his lands, what would one of them be in comparison? He muttered that he needed to find a woman- it had been a very long time since he'd charmed a lady to his bed.

He shifted his gaze up at Aphrodite's sad blue eyes in the painting, realizing how lonely the castle felt when he wasn't hard at work. This spoke volumes because if Kunzite appreciated anything, it was his own space and privacy. He left the castle with the intent to visit his favorite tavern- and somehow found himself walking along the black cliffs of Elysian, enjoying the fresh salty breeze from the green waters of the sea. It reminded him of her, and he almost longed to find Aphrodite standing on guard to the waves that crashed on the rocks below, her long golden curled hair flowing freely behind her. Kunzite found no such thing, only that as he stood at the highest point, it felt like the edge of the world with only green waters in front of him. He felt lonelier.

When he returned to his room to change into uniform, Endymion was sitting at his desk in the Library- his notepad full of all his notes on the Silver Millennium. Zoisite was sprawled out across the arms of his usual chair on the other side of the desk, his green eyes all the more vibrant from the bloodshot state of them as they stared blankly at the ceiling. Jadeite was comically laying face down on the floor in front of the fireplace, and Nephrite's brown eyes were drifting shut as he sat in the large armchair beside Jadeite, held up by is fist and every now and again his head would nod and rouse him awake again. The rooms were beginning to darken with the hour and Kunzite peeked his head in at the exhausted men sprawled around Endymion who was as alert as ever.

"I'll take it from here guys, get some rest." Kunzite said rather loudly. Each man looked up slowly at their leader looking pristine in a fresh uniform and cape, somewhat well rested. Nephrite stood, stretching his huge frame that had only grown larger over the years and nudged Jadeite in the rib with his boot. The blonde pulled himself to his feet, rubbing the heel of his palm into his eye before running the hand through his messy blonde waves that stuck up in a comical poof. Jadeite gave Zoisite's ponytail a rough yank on his way to the door, his hand only being swatted away weakly by their youngest. Zoi stood also, patting Kunzite's arm in thanks filing out behind the others.

"You've kept busy" Endymion remarked at the notepad he held. Kunzite knew he and the Prince had very different views on those from the Silver Millennium who as far as he was concerned were mythical and absent. Perhaps they just spied on them all somehow from their thrones on the Moon, laughing at the Terran's fumbling natures as they tried to figure out this confusing life in some form of sick entertainment. The King had told him they were beautiful, powerful, kind, and just but wrathful all the same. Kunzite had read accounts of their deceptions and wasn't quick to trust them. He wasn't quick to trust anyone.

"I feel it is best to be as informed as possible. Especially regarding beings as powerful as they are." Kunzite took the seat Zoisite had abandoned across from Endymion, the two staring at each other with hard eyes. "Zoisite has brought me reports of the Morning Star, a Venusian warrior who has traveled on her own. Reports that speak of violence and blood, her wrath is becoming known as insatiable and I am supposed to be left unaffected?"

"We... the five of us, are just as powerful. The only difference is we do not know how to wield what we have.."Endymion raised his brows as he tossed the pad down on the desk. "I don't see them the way my father does... they way you seem to." The prince frowned as his eyes stayed locked on the note pad. The page was open to Kunzites elegant but hastened script about the "enemy." Kunzite wondered if he looked that somber when his own infamous frown graced his lips.

"I know." He replied seriously. "And I had hoped to gain some understanding about that, but everything I have seen and read points to us needing to be informed and potentially afraid." He leaned forward on the dark wood of the desk, meeting Endymion's deep blue gaze. "Your father said something once when Aphrodite was here to visit. He said that they were full of grace, kind even."

"My mother, has told me stories. How when she was a lady of the courts in Zoisite's kingdom, she had the honor to meet Queen Serenity once. How beautiful she was, the very depiction of grace, beauty and kindness." His too blue eyes drifted to the painting above the fireplace. "Mother told me, that she could feel the immense power from her, how it did not intice fear but peace and understanding. It enticed serenity." His eyes returned to Kunzite's, cold and grey and painfully intense. "That is what I choose to believe. It doesn't matter what planet it is, even the war planet of Mars wants peace. We fear them because we do not understand the power that we hold ourselves, and somehow find it in our hearts to feel inferior. They fear us because power like this... is dangerous in the hands of those who do not understand how to use it. Like a child given a sword will flail it about unknowing of the consequence it has to the mother that holds it. Does what I say make sense?" Endymion's eyes were almost pleading- hoping the person he trusted the most, hoping Kunzite could see it. His eyes were calculating, frown deepened.

"The child...flailing the sword would do just as much damage to itself in error..." He whispered solemnly. "I understand it though. I do. But it doesn't make it right... they should teach us, not shun us." Endymion sighed, a gentle smile on his boyish face once again, knowing full well his Ward would ponder his words for days to come.

"I'll be in the gardens, I want to get some work in before bed." He stood slowly, Kunzite noted that he had changed into his royal armor for the first time in weeks and smiled. It was good having the cool headed Prince back. He stood to go change into his uniform for night duty, Kunzite's pale eyes turning to the windows to see the moon rising behind the trees turning everything softer in hues of silver and gold. Endymion had a point.


	4. Chapter 4

His watch began outside, sweeping the grounds with care starting in the front and working around through the stables, open fields, orchards, and forests surrounding the immediate area around the palace. Kunzite would then find his way to the cliffside terrace and make his way to the outskirts of the gardens following a similar path each night that allowed him to monitor the gardens and the forests on the outer edge. He'd usually stop by to talk to Endymion before he departed for bed, then sweep the rest of the grounds. Wash, rinse, repeat. Sometimes Kunzite would see just how many passes he could make over the long patrol before the Sun hit the horizon signifying the waking dawn. He was only too glad the colder months were behind them.

Tonight felt strange as he moved along the familiar terrace and down the steps into his white haven of a garden, along the all too familiar and memorized paths that would lead him directly to Endymion's rather private courtyard. He'd pass the old orchard through the trees, the weeping willows that hung over small lakes like little huts offering privacy to those who might seek its solace by the outer gates. The strange aura this evening had him on his guard, hand ready at the hilt of his sword. It was a breathtakingly beautiful night, the Moon full and bright touching everything with light bright enough to rival the day. Even the fireflies that danced around him while he walked seemed almost happy, but it did little to ease his furrowed brow and frowning tense lips.

Kunzite froze immediately when he approached Endymion's private gardens, marked by wrought iron gates twisted with intricate emblems of roses marking Elysian's crest. The Prince had worked tirelessly over these gardens. His had every colored rose imaginable plus some he wasn't sure how the Prince achieved. Tonight was indeed different, the closer he got to the gate the stranger the feeling. Almost calming, but alarming more than anything to someone like him. Kunzite froze immediately, alarms sounding in chills up his spine in hearing a light bell like laugh that was undeniably female from the small courtyard by Endymion's private entrance. It was followed by the all too familiar smooth, calm, and light voice of his Prince who seemed utterly enraptured by whatever conversation was taking place.

Kunzite pressed his back against the wall, moving closer with silent footfalls toward part of the gate that allowed him to see into the garden itself. His pale grey eyes widened, all of his internal organs clenching in a ball at once and he fought the urge to rush in and shield Endymion with sword drawn. He'd expected to see Beryl, though the laugh clearly didn't belong to her, but the last thing he expected to see was beauty. A woman, considerably younger than himself, sat at the edge of his fountain, her long white skirts gathered and her slender arm lazily grazed her fingers through the stable waters.

A few things became painfully clear about these proclaimed Goddesses very quickly. Power rolled off of her in warm tangible waves that caused the tension to melt from his shoulders. It alarmed him, how peaceful and serene he felt just looking at the girl. Her hair was impossibly long, held up in two buns on her head with tails that drifted to the ground in silvery blonde waves, similar to his own hair but there was gold laced within it. Her skin was pale and flawless with an almost filtered like effect, eyes a wide and inhuman cobalt blue that held a silvery sheen in the dim light, but innocent and sweet the way they looked up at Endymion. Her lips were full, concealing perfect white teeth when she smiled brilliantly up at her companion who also seemed to have fallen completely captivated. Kunzite had never seen anything so beautiful in his life- and yet unlike the King suggested, he had no problem looking at her. She was utterly angelic.

Endymion saved one of her pigtails from falling into the water, placing a kiss on the hair before releasing it to her side. A very appealing flush crawled on her pale skin made prominent by the white and gold embellished gown that was almost sheer against the pale Moonlight- the perfection of her soft curves emphasized by this gown that showed too much and far too little. Her wide eyed innocence seemed to capture Endymion with her fascination of every little thing he showed her, and the adoration in her eyes was mutual based on the same emotion in his Prince's midnight gaze. The identity of the girl was extremely obvious by the golden crescent Moon symbol on her forehead that gleamed under the bright light of her home. Her youth suggested the Moon Princess instead of Queen Serenity herself, and for this Kunzite was grateful and yet he knew she shouldn't be there, couldn't be there. He scowled, his hand falling on his sword ready to sweep in and break up this rendezvous, to demand answers from Endymion who knew better than to speak to one of them. That alone was forbidden and punishable by death.

It was God's law- so they were told. Lunar Governments aimed to keep the relationship with the Terran planet amiable only allowing a Elysian Royalty and select diplomats to conduct business with Lunar courts by scheduled meetings. In return for their supposed protection, Earth was just supposed to accept their place and keep to themselves, and the Silver Alliance would leave them alone. Something an adult tells a petulant child- keep your hands to yourself and you won't be harmed. Mostly they did- it was after all easy to forget that they were being watched, that otherworldly beings existed and Kunzite assumed it was the same for them. Out of sight, out of mind.

The Shitennou all suspected the dignitaries of the Silver Alliance were horrified that someone would fall in love resulting in mixed races, or infiltration of Governments resulting in takeover, that their pure and pristine Silver Millenium would be sullied by the insignificant, barbaric and useless people of his beloved, bright and colorful planet. Mostly they were frightened that Endymion would hold that Golden Crystal one day and bring down the Moon. By God's Law of course- they meant their own laws, and Terrans were too stupid to see that. One could argue that they were dumb enough to think Earth's royalty would ever want to take down any planet, let alone the Moon.

His lips were parted to call out to them when he saw a sudden flash of gold off to the right hand side where another gate lead outside of the gardens. It was left hanging open leaving plenty of room for someone to sweep in and attack. Just one more oversight for him to scream at Endymion for later. It was a challenge but he kept one eye on the pair in the gardens that were standing far too close for his liking, and the other ahead of him looking for movements beyond the darkness. Kunzite circled around, pale eyes fierce and ready to strike at the first sign of trouble. Damned if even the shadows weren't playing tricks on him with the swaying of the trees on the gentle evening wind.

He kept his breathing slow and measured, silent and even, using tactics he'd learned in war all too young. He could see the vague shape of someone carefully concealed in shadow just on the outside of the gate, no doubt seeing Endymion in rather forbidden conversation and he wondered if he would kill this person just to prevent the news from spreading. There was after all, little he wouldn't do for the Prince he was convinced made up the other half of his soul. As he drew nearer, Kunzite could tell the form was female, considerably shorter than himself though most people were aside from Nephrite. He tried to swallow down the dry knot that had developed in his throat, circling wider around the person to get closer with care to keep to the shadows.

The clouds shifted, and the vibrant Moonlight beamed down on something brilliantly gold, it was hair a shade he'd only ever seen hanging above his library's fireplace. The knot in his throat grew bigger, the girl tensing as though she knew of his presence though he'd been entirely silent. There was a hum of power, different than the girl he'd just seen in the garden and it made his heart race and blood flow wildly. It intensified when she whipped around with a spike of electric magic as her eyes met his in the dark and he swore they glowed gold. He stood in the shadows, but the Moonlight caught her face and the world seemed to spin around him though they held perfectly still as that gold died down to familiar eyes. Large, burdened blue eyes that held a faint green like the sea. It burned his eyes to look at her.

Her eyes were undeniably blue, more so perhaps than the girl giggling in the garden beside them with unbridled glee. Kunzite noticed it looked like her eyes were glittering, sparkles of gold glinting from her vibrant blue depths that widened upon seeing him. He clenched his jaw tight to keep it from growing slack and falling to the ground at his feet, no one would ever know the challenge he faced to control his every bodily function and posture in this moment. To not fall at her feet and weep. He'd almost rather be at war. War was easier than confronting the girl in front of him.

He realized he wasn't breathing as his head reeled again in this very brief moment that seemed to last eternity, unable to process or think of what to do besides grip the hilt of his sword all the tighter until he was certain the knuckles were white under his already pristine white gloves. For the first time in his life- the great warlord, commander of all of Earth's armies, the legendary Shitennou of the Middle East was completely and utterly disarmed. The sword he gripped like it was the only thing to ground him to this plane of existence rendered useless by his inability to move.

The girl held steady, eyes never leaving his with a stance ready for action and defiance in her face. The shock on her face was evident of course, much less concealed than his own but it was strained and well controlled all at once with a determination like he's never seen before. She looked quite similar to the girl in the garden with Endymion but oh so very different. As noted her hair was a fine and brilliant golden blonde that shimmered like pure silk in the Moonlight. Her skin was fair, only slightly deeper than the other girl's but as she inhaled a sharp breath he noted a very mild golden sheen by the way the light hit her perfectly formed cheekbone. Her glittering eyes were bright as the vibrant tropical waters, almond shaped and framed by thick long lashes, too vibrant to be real and he struggled to hold their stare. Her lips were parted, full like the softest petals of pale pink roses and more perfectly formed than he'd ever seen and Kunzite had kissed his fair share of lips.

She wore a strange and inappropriate uniform donned with a sailors collar and scandalously short orange skirt that fully revealed the longest, most shapely toned legs he'd ever seen. A blue bow, large and concealing covered her chest, but her uniform was low cut and the white leotard underneath was like second skin effectively leaving very little to the imagination. Kunzite had never in his life seen a woman that looked like her. She was toned, that much he could see from her legs and the fine lines of her stomach all too visible against the straining white fabric. Her body curved like his most dangerous fantasy with full and generous breasts and hips to match.

This one had almost a Siren's call, he was drawn to her in the most frightening and thrilling way. The temptation to let her do what she wanted was great and Kunzite found himself slipping into the sensual allure she seemed to permeate without trying. She'd barely moved in fact. Her eyes flickered to his hand, tight on the hilt of his sword by his side and she seemed to tense again as though she was coming to her senses herself. Kunzite spoke before she had the mind to attack him, there would be an end to this lunacy once and for all. He cleared his throat loudly, hopefully to gain the attention of his otherwise occupied Prince.

"Endymion, it appears your guest did not arrive alone." He was angry with himself. He should have never allowed himself to be so caught off guard by this girl whos beauty put the girl in his painting to shame, she seemed to deaden the very gardens they stood in. Making it seem lifeless and pale in comparison to this one singular being. Her eyes were no less haunted, but now widened when he spoke and she stood up straight as though she were surprised he would call her out like this. This was nothing but trouble and danger, if this were to get out it would put the whole planet at risk. He almost spoke out again but Endymion emerged in the doorway, the smaller girl from before shrinking behind him with wide blue eyes on the golden Goddess in front of him. Endymion raised a hand toward him, a common gesture that silenced his words for the moment. It was no less irritating.

"I am very sorry, I didn't mean to keep your Princess so late" Endymion was smiling and gave the other girl an Elysian salute. Kunzite thought he might break a tooth from clenching his jaw so hard. They should kick these girls out now and report this. "I am Endymion as you probably heard, Prince of Elysium. I mean no harm to Serenity, we just had so much to talk about. I've never met any of the Royalty from the Silver Millenium before and we simply lot track of time."

This was when the smaller girl shot forward from behind Endymion's cape to gasp the gloved hands of the other girl and began to plead with her. It was all nonsense and he almost opened his mouth to speak when the Moon Princess regarded the other girl as Venus. He was a fool to think she could have been anyone but the legendary Sailor Venus he'd read about and the name was quick to remind him of Zoisite's reports, how deadly and dangerous this girl could be. How powerful.

"Serenity we are to leave at once before someone notices your absence." His eyes shot to her when she spoke but she was looking at Endymion and this bothered him for some reason. "Your Highness, thank you for keeping her safe. I apologize for the intrusion- it won't happen again." Her voice was light, husky and undeniably feminine all at once and he fell victim to the siren's song all too quickly. It held the grace of a Princess but the command of a warrior that set his blood on fire, and her eyes seemed to hum and pulse with golden magic as she gave the Princess a glare that should have rendered her dead.

He had immediate respect for Venus who like him- was angry. Infuriated even that her liege would be so stupid to break such a law as this. Kunzite was almost saddened that he wouldn't see her again, but grateful because he felt like he might drown in her very presence which was entirely too commanding. He leaned against the wall, if he were being honest it was to hold himself up because he thought he might collapse from trying to look at her for so long.

"Please... it was a pleasure. I enjoyed her company...I'd very much like it if she could return." Kunzite rolled his eyes at Endymion's declaration, his glare remaining ignored for the moment. Venus lightly scoffed, Kunzite was grateful when she shut him down quickly.

The Moon Princess babbled, begging and pleading as Venus grabbed her arm and began to drag her away. He had to place a hand on Endymion's chest to keep him from chasing after them, shaking his head with a hard look when he pleaded with those wanting blue eyes. It was comical really, the way Venus dragged the flailing girl along and he couldn't bear the thought of not saying anything to her. He related to her on so many levels without saying a word.

"It must be hard having a bundle of curiosity for a Princess." He heard his voice before his brain commanded him to say the words. That silver tongue kicking in when he least wanted it to. She stopped then, went almost ridgid. He ignored Endymion who scolded him, peeking back out of his gardens to spectate. Kunzite found himself smirking, chuckling even at Endymion's deadpanned expression and the immediate halt of the two blonde girls who looked like sisters. He couldn't bring himself to look away from Venus, knowing it would probably be the only time he'd ever see her, he needed to memorize as much as he could.

"It must be harder having such an.. accommodating Prince." She bit back with a near flirtatious look in her eye and he tried not to get lost in her sensual and alluring tone. Endymion was flushing to his ears and all Kunzite could do was stare. And suddenly, they were gone.

The golden magic floated on the air like glitter for a few moments after they disappeared, the hum lingering on their skin as Kunzite and Endymion were left enchanted for a few moments after they were gone. Something broke, or awakened inside of him after that. Something unexplainable and it alarmed him beyond measure. There was a tiny little world in that first exchange, one in which his unruly black haired Prince vanished and the tiny Silver Princess from the Moon ceased to exist. It was a teasing exchange but one that spoke of understanding. She had it just about as rough as he did.

When Endymion turned sharply to his General, his face grew amused instantly at the clouded look in his eyes. He'd never seen Kunzite like this and made mental note to use it as blackmail against the feared warlord later. Kunzite's face became a stoic mask again as he turned on his Prince, stepping forward aggressively. Endymion stood his ground, meeting his ice cold gaze, a hard task indeed.

"What the actual hell were you THINKING!?" Kunzite barked. Endymion did not look amused and merely turned to walk back into his garden.

"I didn't invite her if that is what you were asking... I found her over by the woods. She was just curious Kunzite." He sat on the fountain and looked up at him with that arrogance Kunzite always found so frustrating, fuming when he walked back through the gate, shutting it behind him. His fists were white beneath his gloves from clenching, the circulation in his fingers long since gone, and he swore he was about to break some teeth.

"Her curiosity could tear down Elysium. What do you think will happen to the Four Kingdoms under it? And YOU entertaining that curiosity is worst of all. You should have alerted me- we would have summoned the Lunar Guard to collect her!" He could feel his blood pressure rising along with his voice and had to exhale slowly to deflate some of the rage. His breathing was erratic anyway from the lingering tingle across his skin from when they teleported away.

"Some royals are a prisoner to their crown Kunzite. Am I not your Prince? Do you mistrust my judgement so much?" His eyes widened, turning back to Endymion who sat there with an intensity in his gaze that damn near intimidated the much larger, older soldier. "She wants the same for us... the next in line to the Lunar throne and I share the same vision of peace, of unity if you carry magic or not. Serenity could help me bridge that gap Kunzite, and sooner than we ever imagined!" He stood, his features still dark. Anger melted from his face as he looked at Endymion in understanding.

"You love her." He stated simply. The confidence never left Endymion's face as he considered his soldier's words.

"I think it would be very easy for me to say that Kunzite, but we've only just met. I can't deny that our union would be the easiest way to set the wheels in motion. But we shall see what happens the next time we meet." He gave a boyish grin that further infuriated Kunzite.

"She is not to come here again."

"That is not for you to decide."

"I really do not want to earn your mistrust Endymion, but I swore an oath to protect you. I will need to report any further interactions." Kunzite pinched the bridge of his nose between two gloved fingers, clenching his eyes tight.

"My father is passed caring Kunzite. And besides, with steadfast and loyal guards such as you, I will be perfectly safe." He placed a gentle hand on Kunzite's shoulder. "I don't think not seeing her again is a possibility for me." It was love in his eyes, you couldn't convince him otherwise. He'd never been in love himself, but people constantly seemed to try and tutor him on the subject. He'd always had better things to do but if anything he was an excellent listener. Kunzite groaned softly, as though he didn't have enough work to do.

"How many times have you met with her?" His eyes were cold, Kunzite knew how this worked and judging by their flirtatious touches and scathing hot looks it was not the first time Endymion had seen the girl.

"This is her fourth time I believe." Kunzite's head almost exploded, face almost purple with a rage he'd have to take out on the training grounds. Endymion was so calm about it and that alone made it so much more infuriating.

"Do not fall under their spells so quickly Endymion..."

"And that is why I will need to see more of her." The prince gave a wink similar to the one Venus had just given him and disappeared through the door to his quarters. This was bad...

The rest of his shift went painfully slow as he circled the grounds like a buzzard, his head swimming with golden haired goddesses and unruly Princes. By the time the Sun had peaked over the horizon, Kunzite had an idea that could work, but only if the other Generals agreed. The situation was out of his hands strictly based on Endymion's title, and he hated that more than anything. There was a way he could gain control of it as he did everything else that fell out of place. He couldn't very well allow Endymion to be killed because of a pair of big blue eyes, let alone allow the entire planet to burn because if Kunzite believed anything it was that love made you weak, love made you blind.

He burst into Nephrite's room noisily, shaking the snoring man's shoulder gruffly with a set jaw. His brown eyes finally opened in irritation when Kunzite slapped the man, pushing Kunzite's large hand off of him with a groan.

"Library. Now." Is all he said before retreating to wake up Jadeite and Zoisite. Zoi was already awake, dressed and stretching his muscles. Jadeite was sprawled next to one of the maids in various states of undress and Kunzite scared the poor woman half to death when he burst through the door. Jadeite was groggy and aloof, standing from his bed in nothing but a smug grin. Kunzite turned his back and told him to get dressed before he gouged his own eyes out and to report to the library post-haste.

When the four men gathered in their usual spots, coffee had been brought in by one of the maids much to Nephrite's delight as he loaded it with cream and sugar, as did Jadeite. Zoisite had a tea bag hanging from his cup and Kunzite of course drank it black.

"Don't you have to sleep soon?" Jadeite observed as Kunzite took a long sip.

"I'm afraid sleep is the last thing on my mind. We have a situation." He frowned as he sat down heavily in his desk chair. His pale eyes couldn't help but fall on the painting again, the woman's sad eyes taunting him, and he somehow wanted to get rid of the painting now, knowing it did her no justice. Zoisite still sat on the edge of the desk as usual, but as he grew taller he had issue sitting indian style as he had before without taking up most of the surface. He turned to Kunzite, grass green eyes looking in concern.

"What's going on?" Nephrite asked, popping a scone in his mouth, his kind brown eyes concerned despite his usual casual and aloof nature.

"The Moon Princess was here last night." He muttered, never one to beat around the bush or sugar coat anything. "She was in the garden with Endymion." Jadeite promptly spit out his coffee earning a glare from the silver haired General. Zoisite jaw dropped and Nephrite almost choked. That's what you get for shoving a whole scone in your mouth- Kunzite thought almost amused.

"THE Moon Princess... was here?" Zoisite was excited and almost sad he had missed it, always wanting to meet one of the Goddess Blessed women for no reasons outside the scientific realm. Not for the same reason that Jadeite was thinking, or even Nephrite for that matter.

"Endymion is clearly falling for her, it appears she's snuck here before. I can only guess she'll be returning to visit him." Kunzite frowned, "I'm not sure how all four of us missed this, hence why I called you all in here."

"That's a bad thing... right?" Jadeite asked, taking a new sip of his coffee. Kunzite had expected a more nefarious comment from Jadeite, but even his blue eyes were serious and concerned, brows furrowed slightly.

"I need your help." Kunzite admitted, this would be a team effort and there was no way he could do this alone. "If this is to happen, and it will against our better judgement, Endymion has made it very clear to me that as our Prince he will handle this as he pleases. It is up to us to keep this discrete. It cannot get out to ANYONE." He emphasized. The emotions in the room were a mixed bag of fear, curiosity, and excitement. Kunzite was disappointed not to see some form of outrage from the men who seemed all too accepting.

"Not to downplay the situation, but we will get to meet her?" Zoisite asked almost excited, Kunzite could almost see the thousands of questions wanting to simply pour out of him.

"I think so. She had a member of her guard with her also- Venus. I had the pleasure of almost suffering her wrath last night. She was none too happy about the situation either. " Zoisite was either elated or frantic, grabbing a notepad and about five books he tried to bolt from the room leaving his tea to grow cold on the desk.

"Excuse me I have some studying to do!" Kunzite knew the young general had always wanted to speak with these women, learn how to enhance their daily life with their technology, develop their armies with their weaponry and skill. He wasn't at all surprised when Jadeite tripped him on his way out with a stone serious expression, sending books and paper flying. "You're going to pay for that in drills later." Zoisite bit out as he gathered his things again and walked a bit more calmly from the room.

"Empty threats." Jadeite mumbled into his drink amusedly. Kunzite merely rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "So... just how beautiful IS Venus?" Kunzite was greeted with a deviant grin when he peered over his coffee cup at the Eastern King. Kunzite had been Knighted under Aphrodite, placed under the Love Goddess' favor as a Soldier of Purity and Affection, a title hardly fitting to the General's cold personality, and yet they had just finished constructing a new statue of her in his garden. Jadeite had gathered the man had an affinity for Aphrodite based on the painting he was often found gazing at and how the Goddess of Love seemed to always be lingering around his gargoyle of a leader in one way shape or form. Jadeite always had an intuition about him, an almost psychic ability that almost rivaled Beryl in her fortunes.

"I don't know, it was dark." Kunzite bit out nonchalantly as he sipped his coffee, enjoying the smoothe bitterness and trying his best to NOT think of those long legs and flawless skin. He could see how men became enchanted by even just the thought of the Venusian women, but to see THE incarnate of Aphrodite herself was consuming all on its own. Kunzite was resolute to not get distracted by the memory and save it for more private moments he reserved for himself as they were few and far between.

"I'm calling bullshit right there my friend. A few drinks tonight and I'll get you to spill the beans." Jadeite threatened, snagging the scone from Nephrites fingers and pushing it into his own mouth. Nephrite frowned at the back of his shaggy blonde head of hair and reached for another one.

"Putz..." He muttered earning a bark of laughter from Jadeite. "Needless to say we're going to have to be extra careful on night watch from now on. We cannot let these visitors be discovered by any other soul lest it end whatever peace we have going right now. Last thing we need is an uprising against Endymion, and all out war with the Silver Alliance. I'm not one to give up without a fight, but we might as well fall on our own blades were that to happen."

"Well if Endymion is falling for this Moon Princess... and they decide to get married...couldn't that make the people revolt also?" Nephrite raised a brow at Kunzite respectfully and brushed the crumbs from his uniform. "I think we have enough to worry about given the fact that he has magic. Don't you?"

"That is something we must prepare for, thankfully I think that day is rather distant yet so we have a little time. Endymion thinks that Princess Serenity could help bridge the gap between us and the Silver Millenium. Eliminate the tension and place us on even ground. Universal peace." Kunzite frowned and stood to pour himself more coffee. He'd regret it later since he needed to sleep but even so he figured that would escape him with these new developments. "I think it could go both ways and we have to handle this whole situation extremely delicately. He is our Prince so we cannot defy him, but we are also charged with his protection. We will just hold stricter guard and pray it does not escalate." He leaned against the front of his desk, setting his cup down and eyeing Jadeite and Nephrite intensely. Nephrite gulped almost comically and Jadeite raised a brow boredly. "By NO MEANS... are you to interact with her guard more than needed. We are to stay resolute in our mission. It's bad enough the way you two carry on with women." Jadeite and Nephrite exchanged glances.

"I mean it!" He barked loudly, immediately halting the snickering of his men. Kunzite's face was red, that's usually what it took for at least Jadeite to take him seriously. He knew of all of them Jadeite would be the one to slip up if given the chance. He trusted him, for under all that lechery, mischief, and smart assed mouth was a fiercely passionate and loyal man with patience that almost rivaled his own. Jadeite was still younger though, wild and uninhibited as his Prince.

Kunzite sighed with a nod to dismiss the meeting with hopes that he could rely on his brothers as he always had with unwavering trust. He went to take a drink of his coffee, stopping himself when he realized the morning was growing late and he was too sufficiently caffinated to sleep. He regarded the painting, how dull and plain it looked now, how unextraordinary the girl that stared sadly back at him was. The eyes were the closest thing about her and he stared into their painted blue depths. They lacked that magic, that gold glitter that laced them, the command she demanded with them that Kunzite was certain had briefly taken command of his soul. He scoffed to himself, falling weak at once glimpse of her.

He should have been sleeping, but Kunzite reported for drills that morning anyways, relieving Nephrite of taking over. He rode his men so much harder today, his mood darkening beneath the vivid memory of her full lips, the agonizingly tight uniform, those haunted eyes. It became worrisome to the other Shitennou, it had been a long time since they'd seen the warlord rattled and all chalked it up to the Queen's failing health. Jadeite offered to take him out for a drink, nothing too intense but that he should find a woman to work his true frustrations out on.

Kunzite accepted for once, going to his favorite tavern and getting famously drunk. He and Jadeite engaged in conversation on what was truly important to them to stay happy in the life of servitude they lived, meant to be philosophical and falling flat under a boozy haze. They both agreed Endymion was the first thing, their bourbon is exceptional at this tavern so Kunzite offered that as his number two and Jadeite struggled to think of anything better so he agreed. They fumbled with number three, Jadeite had started to break down some, bourbon was not his drink, and get emotional. Spouting something about loneliness and how all these women did nothing to ignite passion in him. Of course as soon as the words left his lips he was swept off by not one but two rather pretty girls.

Kunzite was dragged off by some red haired woman, he was too drunk to remember or even process who it was. Blissfully numb as he would call it. He almost felt sorry, for no matter how the girl tried, she couldn't rouse him enough to make a difference. Her amorous kisses, relentless stroking at him with her hands, and after she tried with her mouth to no avail, Kunzite pushed the fiery woman away. He was certain he was rude about it, tucking himself back in his pants and stumbling from her room at the tavern in a haze he hadn't been in for weeks.

She wasn't blonde enough, her eyes not blue and body too soft and full, not sinfully curved and toned to perfection. Kunzite made his way back to the palace, dark and silent by this hour Endymion would be sitting with his mother, Nephrite on guard, and Jadeite sandwiched between two pretty girls somewhere having the time of his life. Better than sandwiching a girl between he and Nephrite as he's had to on plenty of occasions. Zoisite was working on something important, Kunzite couldn't be bothered in his stupor to care.

Instead he took a cold shower, sobering only slightly. Enough to feel sorry for the red haired girl, and enough to understand what Jadeite was trying to say. It was always the same, it always had been for him. Plenty of women but nothing behind it that made any of it worthwhile. He lay back on his covers, eyeing the painting from his bed and sighing. Every time he closed his eyes he saw her. Muscles tensed under that very odd uniform, ready to strike with an intensity in her eyes that rivaled any feared warlord or general he'd ever faced in battle. She was the very epitome of wrath and it was oh so beautiful and alluring. Even though she'd said a mere sentence directed toward him, the passion and fear for her Princess's well being that had taken over those eyes, the flirtation in her voice when she spoke told him that beauty was a well that ran deep into her soul.

It was a strange thing to be aroused by these thoughts when a warm blooded woman that had stroked him until near pain couldn't bring Kunzite any pleasure. He of course took advantage of this, closing his eyes as he stroked himself to envision her positively sinful body and what it would be like to let her take over his mind, dominate him with her power and strip him of all control until the Sun kissed the horizon to say good morning. What would it be like to let her touch him, kiss him, and educate him on all the pleasure Venusians were well known for. Perhaps he could overpower her small frame, hold her down on his bed and he could show her all the barbarism of the Terran world she so feared until she shouted and succumbed to his want for her. It was a shallow moment of pleasure he wasn't particularly proud of, and even as he came with a fierce intensity on to his stomach, Kunzite found he wasn't sated. Unsatisfied and frustrated is all it did for him.

He denied all women the rest of the week after, settling on nothing but hard liquor and he dared not think about the Venusian. Needless to say his mood did not improve in the slightest which not only concerned the Shitennou but gained the attention of his Prince as well. Kunzite was lounging in the garden with Endymion the next time he saw the Moon Princess. It was a mere two days later when the silver haired buns peeked into the garden by the gate, effectively scaring the shit out of him. He'd felt it, but didn't expect to see her all the same and jumped to his feet with an unsheathed sword. It was the first time Serenity looked at him directly, her eyes wide and laced with a silver fear that had him retracting immediately with a polite bowed apology. Kunzite inwardly kicked himself for backing off so easily, he should have held his sword to her neck and told her to leave- but she was so frightened, like a little rabbit shivering and cold. He had once again been disarmed because nothing he'd ever seen looked more innocent than the girl with the crescent moon on her forehead.

Endymion did nothing but shoot him a cold glare he was certain to hear about later. Kunzite dished an equally icy glare back and sunk down onto a bench, sprawling lazily and unprofessionally. Serenity asked to see horses, and Endymion cut him off with a hand again when he opened his mouth to protest. There were guard out there but Endymion was gracious and lead her away with a guiding hand on her back. In a motion of protest, Kunzite didn't follow. Even if he knew Endymion wouldn't, it would serve him right at this point if he got caught, and Kunzite grabbed an apple from the basket at his feet, pulled his knife and started cutting. He felt her arrival shortly after.

He knew she was just outside the gate, probably peeking in trying to find her wayward Princess and Kunzite honed the churning motions of his insides to annoyance and anger. He knew he shouldn't be mad, she was just doing her job but it was the manner in which she effected him that made him dread her presence so much.

"I know you're over there." He called out, blanching at the icy tone of his own voice. "You can come out." He spent the next thirty seconds trying not to cut his finger off with the knife in his hand and preparing for the sight of her, knowing well the effects it would have long after she was gone. She didn't disappoint him.

He wouldn't look at her, not directly anyways. He could see she wore a different dress, a pale gold that was corseted up the bodice with a delicate gold chain. Kunzite sought to not pay any further attention, and kept cutting his apple.

"Has Serenity come by this evening?" Her voice was light as silk and sharp as his knife at the same time. It both cut and soothed him creating a delicious bit of anxiety.

"They are walking." He replied simply, eating one of the apple slices and savoring the sweet juice of it. Kunzite wondered if her lips were as sweet, frowning deeper because he shouldn't be thinking such things.

"Where is she so that I may bring her home?" He could see the motion, her hands going to her hips, tone biting in annoyance. He simply cut a piece of the apple away, extending it to her without taking his eyes away from the sharp blade of his knife. There was a jolt, like she cut him when her fingers lightly grazed his to take the piece of fruit from him. It was so jarring that his eyes snapped to hers out of reflex more than anything else. He felt the light twitch of his brow when his pale greys clashed with deep oceans of her blues. "Thank you.."

Her voice was a strained whisper, seductive in its softness and he realized again that she wasn't this way on purpose, that it was her very nature to be alluring and oh so inviting. His body began to react to her automatically when she bit into the slice of apple, seeming to enjoy its light sweet taste with an erotic moan he was certain would undo him entirely. Kunzite could only stare at her lips and had to force himself to turn his attention back to the apple or she'd see quite quickly that his frustration was not just limited to the idiotic actions of his Prince and her Princess, but fell just below his belt as well. No matter, she was to blame for it anyway.

"They're by the stables. She wanted to see horses." Kunzite frowned, focusing once more on the knife, he was stronger than this. He exhaled, offering her another piece against his better judgement, handling this the way he handled everything he loathed. He found the more often he did something, the less likely it would affect him. Venus was proving him very wrong. He wasn't even hungry, eating the next slice was all he could do to distract himself and yet he could still feel her eyes burning into him. She smirked then, a gentle tug at her lip and gleam in her eye that suggested mischief and he almost cut his finger at the motion of her hips as she shifted weight on her feet.

"Should you not be guarding your Prince if he is alone with the Princess of the Silver Millenium? Anything could happen." Kunzite raised a brow, his chewing coming to a halt at her words. She wasn't wrong, and he hadn't followed them out of defiance, but it was annoyance that masked his face at being called out for being lax in his duty. He wasn't technically on guard duty that night, but he still should have followed them.

"You shouldn't be here." He bit, staring her down with newfound rage. Kunzite refused to relent from his hardened and icy gaze, no matter how his eyes burned he could not allow himself to fall so weak. Goddess or not. Venus was as defiant as he was, staring back in a commanding frustration. He was impressed, not many were able to stand so firmly beneath his glare. Kunzite tried to tell himself it wasn't alluring, that silent challenge she posed him with every breath. Reminding himself that she was a brutal warrior. Those stories of her wrath.

"I am here so that I can collect my Princess and be gone from here." She challenged, shifting on her feet. "I can't very well go wandering your castle grounds freely now can I General?" Her hands seemed to tighten on her hips, eyes narrowed just slightly and Kunzite held her gaze for who knows how long before her beauty began to burn them and he was either going to do something stupid, or say something cruel. He shifted his eyes back to the remaining fourth of his apple and continued to peel in silence. Kunzite noticed her eyes widen at his obvious dismissal of her and walked over to the fountain, sitting with a frustrated sigh on the edge.

He could only gaze at the smooth curtain of gold hair that fell down her back, thankfully concealing much of her form. It was held halfway back and tied neatly with a thick red ribbon that only enhanced the golden shade of her blonde hair. It felt surreal to have her there, her power rolling off of her until he barely noticed it anymore. Like his body grew used to it. She was too far to touch and yet so close and for this he was grateful while he finished the apple in his hand. He didn't want the rest of it but it otherwise distracted him. Enough time had passed, and it was already late in the night. The silent tension between them was awkward and Kunzite needed to reel in his moron of a Prince. He stood slowly, concealing the knife safely and took a few steps toward her with bated breath, but well out of arm's reach.

"It's getting late. I'll escort you." Kunzite offered, exhaling the breath he held slowly when she turned to look up at him. She gave a silent nod, and stood, following him through the gate she came in from and into the trees. He walked ahead, not waiting for her on purpose, that mixture of irritation and anger was not playing nicely with him. Hard to ignore her however, Kunzite felt his heart leap in his chest when her arm brushed his in her haste to catch up, appearing by his side like a spot of sunlight in the middle of the night. She didn't notice, but he peered down at her, watching her wide eyes more concerned at every sight and sound. His planet was foreign to her, he couldn't imagine how the fireflies enchanted her or the shuffling sound of deer nearby frightened her. He almost smiled, it humanized her in a way that allowed him to forget how powerful she was as though she was just a regular girl in a way. Kunzite's grey eyes drifted over her face, a reminder that regular girls were nowhere near this beautiful, her wide blue eyes were the cause for the reassurance of his voice. "No one will see us this way."

Knowing his guard and their routes better than anyone, he wrote them after all, Kunzite took her the long way toward the large stables. They came to a clearing, he knew there shouldn't be guards out this way but he held his hand up to pause her a moment, stepping out into the open field first to be sure before he gestured for her to follow. Venus became almost childlike. Her wide eyes darted over the fields, the blackened skyline of the towns and she even walked backward to observe the towering Palace against the diamond lit sky. Things he so often took for granted became beautiful to him again in her fascination and he too became distracted by the stars reflecting in the nearby lake.

While she didn't acknowledge him at all, he snuck glances at her when he could, marveled that she was still more beautiful than everything else around him. Even the stars seemed to pale and bend to her in defiance of her brilliance, and she even defied the darkness around them with her he could admit one thing, it would be that she was absolutely the most gorgeous thing he'd ever seen.

She was so frenzied, looking at everything and marveling at the beauty of each detail of the nature and Kingdom around her down to horsefly that had landed on her arm.

"General...what is this?" She paused, whispering with fascination that caught him off guard, so all he could offer was a non-committal hum. Another thing he found he'd forgotten was that she had no idea what was potentially harmful or not on his planet. Kunzite turned to try and carefully help her remove it but as soon as she moved to touch it the thing bit her. He laughed when she squealed adorably, Kunzite simply couldn't help it. She flailed a hand at the horrendous thing with what he guessed was a curse in a language unknown to him. Probably her native tongue because those things hurt like hell when they bite.

Kunzite sighed, taking a few wary steps back toward her. She was too busy examining the bite, her lips tensed with a mixture of pain and confusion at the raised welt forming. Carefully, he touched her. His gloved fingers lifted her arm slowly, grey eyes fixed on her face a moment to gauge her reaction as his face lowered to make sure that it was just a horsefly that bit her, and that she wouldn't have any allergic reactions.

"A horsefly." He confirmed, wishing he hadn't put his gloves back on along the way so that he could feel her skin that was so warm through the fabric. Strange thoughts aside, regardless of what others said about him, Kunzite was a gentleman. "Are you alright?"

"Um... I think so." Venus blinked as though his voice brought her back from some unknown place. "It hurts..I don't think I like that creature." She muttered, pulling her arm free and holding a hand over the bump. Kunzite watched intensely, thinking she might heal herself from the offensive red bump but nothing happened. He frowned, and for reasons entirely unselfish he removed his left glove. She stared at the offered hand, shrinking back even as though she thought he might harm her.

"Let me see it." He stared hard at her a moment, rolling his eyes when she made no move and she pulled her arm away when he reached for it. He took another step, taking his gloved hand and gently took her forearm again with a frustrated sigh. "I'm trying to help. In case you were wondering."

He placed his bare left hand over her arm, her skin like hot velvet beneath his calloused hand that wrapped around her easily. His grey eyes closed, focusing on a faint pink light he knew he'd find at the center of his chest, trying to force the power to his singular hand in effort to heal the bug bite so no one saw the angry red bump when she returned to the Moon. She couldn't leave with any evidence of their world, even if he outed himself as a magic wielder. As the power reached his hand and he began to sweat from the effort it took heat spread to his fingers and into his palm, a telling sign that it was working. Embarrassing that it took so much effort over such a minor thing but his duty as a gentleman and guardian of his planet obligated him to make sure nothing was overlooked. He held his hand over her arm a little longer after he knew it was healed, he was breathless and suddenly exhausted when he finally allowed himself to remove his hand from her now unscathed skin.

"You..."

"I healed you." Kunzite frowned again, replacing his glove and wiping the sweat from his brow and his pale eyes met her astonished blue ones, her lips parted in surprise. He had never felt skin as soft as hers, a thought that only frustrated him even more. "It's nothing."

"But-"

"I said it's nothing." He bit sourly, turning his back with an unintended sweep of his cape he walked away. Kunzite berated himself silently, taking on a brisk walk toward the stables to get this girl off his planet so he could further try and convince Endymion that these beings should not be on Terran soil. Gods Zara would be having a field day with his frustrations. He even lifted his gaze skyward as if to dare her to say 'I told you so.' Kunzite never thought he'd be glad to see the stables of all places, pausing with a deep exhale, waiting for her shuffling feet to grow quiet behind him.

"I would ask that you keep what happened to yourself." Truthfully he wanted to find a way to demand her silence in exchange for the kindness that he made it so no one knew she'd been bitten by an insect native to Earth.

"Are you more fearful of your people or what my Queen might do if she found a Terran had magic?" He rolled his eyes, a head of the Alliance guard he expected her to be a bit more cautious.

"You could have done it yourself you know." Kunzite glanced back at her over his shoulder, continuing toward the darkened stable.

"Magic doesn't work that way. Why should I keep it a secret? I don't know you and I owe you nothing." Her tone was dripping with annoyance, that defiance she held from back at the gardens seeming to return to her. Perhaps they weren't all powerful after all.

"Suit yourself, but I think we both know what would happen should someone find out that I not only have magic, but used it on you of all people. You shouldn't be here, remember?"

The stables were empty beside the obvious many horses, and Kunzite frowned, stopping before they even reached the gates. He didn't need to go any further because they were empty, a very specific black stallion missing from his stall. He raked a gloved hand down his face, groaning loudly with murderous thoughts clouding his mind. All he wanted to do was get these girls home, so the one behind him could stop tormenting him with her presence. So he could begin to deal with torment that would no doubt come in the aftermath of her departure.

"There." Venus tugged at the sleeve of his jacket, she stood close to him, his eyes snapping down at her briefly and following the smooth expanse of her arm, out over the field where her slender finger guided him. Kunzite growled, damned near seeing red at the intimate scene Endymion and Serenity made. Just off in the distance in the middle of an open field, like a perfect idiot, Endymion was mounted on his great black stallion with a girl in a white dress and silver hair, which was stark against the Prince's black armor and cape, cradled in his arms like a bride. He groaned loudly in frustration, storming off toward them with a flip of his cape resolved to break this up and end this once and for all. Anyone could have seen them, this carelessness had gone too far and Kunzite swore his hair was turning whiter with each visit from the Moon Goddess and the Golden Guardian behind him. He was halfway there, walking fast with Venus trailing in struggle to keep up behind him when the Prince kissed her long and deep, and he began to see red.

"ENDYMION!" Kunzite barked, Venus flinched at his side with the sharp tone. "It's time for the Princess to return home." He bit through clenched teeth, staring up from the ground at the annoyed look on the Prince's face. It seemed Endymion wanted to have a stare off contest with him too because they stared at each other with icy glares while Venus helped Serenity shuffle down from the horse. The way Venus jumped, wide eyed when the horse nudged her affectionately was a moment he couldn't allow himself to enjoy, especially when she pet it's muzzle and gave a brilliant smile that was certain to stay with him for the rest of his life. It was as though the Sun had finally broken free of the clouds in the darkness of their midnight. He couldn't even enjoy it. Serenity and Endymion took the split second of his distraction to say goodnight, but Venus teleported them home before they had much time.

Kunzite didn't stay angry with Endymion for long. He grew more morose as time went on and the Queen's health only worsened, the poor Prince becoming occupied with arrangements of the saddest since they were all told it would be anytime. So this time, when another two days passed and Serenity showed up, Kunzite remained silent but polite. Endymion gathered the girl in his arms like only she could save him from his sadness, maybe she could. They were speaking in hushed tones, the Prince bent to rest his forehead on hers and they gazed into each others eyes in a way that made even Kunzite's cold heart flutter. He slipped into the neighboring garden to give them more privacy, following at a distance to ensure their safety but give them some space. He frowned, still not agreeing of this arrangement but to him it was perfectly clear it was too late.

Kunzite followed along stone pathways, tracing their movements along the castle gardens until they were close to his own gardens of white, standing by the weeping willow nearby and well concealed. It was a romantic spot, he'd taken women there before, swam in the small lake beneath it on hot summer nights. He tried not to mind what he could only assume was Endymion's confession of love, the way her face turned pink and she threw herself into his arms and kissed him with no hesitation. He sighed, wishing he had a flask with him so he could at least lower his inhibitions enough that their kisses grown heated didn't make his stomach churn.

Kunzite peeked when he heard a faint shriek, ready to rush in if needed but the Princess had lost her footing near the lake and fell in. Of course Endymion went in after her, both of them laughing a little too loud for the late hour. There were guards posted not terribly far from their location. He rolled his eyes when things got a little more heated between the two royals, they couldn't keep their hands off each other it seemed and while it was horribly romantic, it was also extremely dangerous.

Of course Serenity was undeniably gorgeous, far more than any Earthen woman and almost rivaled her guardian though where Serenity was innocent and pure, Venus was sensual and powerful with a rawness about her that burned him. Kunzite could almost see Endymion crumble as he pulled the young Moon Goddess from the water like some nymph out to give both him and his Prince a heart attack with her radiance. His resolve would probably be rather thin too the way her white gown became completely translucent from the water and Kunzite turned away. Serenity's beauty was not his to cherish in that form, and he didn't need another one of these Goddesses haunting his mind when he should be thinking of peace treaties, and his dying Queen.

Kunzite almost chuckled, watching as Venus walked right by him from his well camouflaged spot beneath a tree blooming white flowers. He was once more left breathless at the sight of her, Moon Goddesses long forgotten with the arrival of the Venusian in her strange and short uniform. He followed her silently, standing off to the side while she watched the two waterlogged lovers in their passionate state with a flushed expression that was wistful and angry all at once. Her delicate gloved fingers rest gently at the deep V of her uniform at her chest, brows furrowed and breath deep through slightly parted lips. It would have probably been erotic had she not looked so distraught. The same torment he was feeling, they shouldn't have been there.

"It's rude to watch." Kunzite spoke softly, though it didn't fail to frighten her based on how she jumped like a child caught red handed. "You walked right passed me you know." He pointed out, trying to not appear too amused by her flushed cheeks.

"Well it's ruder to sneak up on people!" Venus bit in an angered whisper. "Why do you let this happen? And don't you dare look at her!" Kunzite smirked, trying not to take the command as flattery since it was merely an attempt to protect her Princess from prying eyes. He was almost ashamed of the vanity that came from thinking she might have held jealousy in her tone that he might look at another woman.

"Why do you let your Princess come here if you don't want my Prince to give her such affections? I think you of all people knew that it might come to this." Kunzite grinned, as her lips parted like she wanted to say something, lovely face stricken with the inability to respond. "Let them be for now, he won't do anything she doesn't want him to." Kunzite turned then, walking back into the garden to stay better hidden, and he really didn't want to watch in case this did escalate. He was only vaguely aware that she followed him lazily walking back to the safety of the blossoming tree, gazing up at the Moon above with the lightest of frowns on his lips.

"We should not be allowing this to continue." He looked over toward the stone entrance to the garden where she stood and his breathing halted, her commanding voice raising the hairs on his arms. The Moonlight washed over her as though trying to bathe her in silver when she shone a more brilliant gold made all the more potent by the dim blue cast of the Moon's light. Her stance was one of power, legs slightly spread and fists lightly clenched at her side, chin held high so he could take in every inch of her beauty. He frowned then, raising a brow as he did often because this image of her would inevitably haunt him in the coming days.

"No. We shouldn't. Her invitation was extended by the Prince himself, I'm not one to disobey his word." It was true, and as Kunzite said it there was an angry flicker of gold in her eye though the way her brows furrowed told him she understood.

"So we are just going to allow what is strictly forbidden by Alliance law to transpire? Where is your reason in it General? You could be killed for even speaking to me..." Venus stepped toward him, her eyes softened a bit, almost exhausted in manner and he saw the tired and sad eyes of the girl in his painting. "We shouldn't be here.."

"It is not my Alliance, and we both know why we allow it. Are you not Venus, the Goddess of Love herself?" Kunzite stood tall, stepping toward her finding it easier the more he saw her to hold her eyes. "Your Princess has not been unwelcome, but if you wish to drag her home now feel free. I enjoy this about as much as you do."

Enjoy it, it was the most blissful misery he'd ever experienced. Kunzite didn't want these Goddesses here on Earth, he wanted order and just laws. He also wanted to drown in her. He wanted to know her outside of these little spats where they verbally sparred over what they knew was wrong but they stood together in helplessness to stop it. Kunzite tried to keep his lips from betraying the ice in his eyes with a smile and she seemed to sense this because her own lips turned and she smiled at him softly. His heart beat painfully against his ribcage and he watched her hair sway with her hips as she walked back toward the willow.

Footsteps shuffled in the grass not too far off, a sound Kunzite had trained his ears to listen for in combat. They were men's footsteps for certain- far too heavy to be Venus or even his Prince. He moved quickly, closing the gap between himself and Venus in few long strides. Kunzite was able to grab her forearm, yanking her back into his garden in hopes he wouldn't injure her, but there would be far more pressing matters should they be caught. He rolled her against his chest tightly, gripping his hand over her mouth to keep her from speaking and leaned down to her ear to shush her. His dark brown cape enveloped both of them, his back turning to conceal any sliver of gold that might peek out from her hair so they blended in with the tree they stood under.

It only lasted a few moments, a few all too short moments that allowed Kunzite to learn a few things about Venus while he held her intimately against his chest. That scent he'd caught of oranges and honeysuckle came from her, not some standard flower in their gardens. It was the single most delicious thing he'd ever smelled, completely intoxicating. Second, she fit like a glove against him, it would have been nothing for him to rest his chin on top of her head, or to lift that chin and kiss her. Had he not been so concentrated on listening for the guard that called out for the intruder he would have paid closer mind to the way her hands rest on his chest, or the soft press of her own chest against his. Kunzite's grey eyes drifted down briefly, noting the different tones of gold laced throughout her hair and he cursed his gloves that he couldn't feel it against her back. Lastly, even through his gloves her power hummed and vibrated into his skin making the world seem to tilt and blur around him.

Kunzite held his breath when her forehead dropped to rest on his chest, the fringe around her eyes tickling at his bare skin through the open buttons of his uniform. He felt her shiver and assumed it was in fear for Serenity. His thumb automatically stroked her arm, hopefully in comfort to her though his own worry drifted toward Endymion and prayed his idiot Prince remained well hidden himself or made it to safety before they were discovered. He exhaled as the guard's footsteps faded with distance and released the Goddess in his arms slowly with a hard look to stay put and finger pressed to his lips to keep her silent.

He walked away slowly, silently, and he wanted to be angry. Kunzite wanted to shatter his fist on the next stone wall until it crumbled to his will. More men would be coming soon to inspect this portion of the gardens more thoroughly. He would no doubt be summoned and alerted, and all Kunzite could think was how the lunacy of it all must end. None of this should be happening. He should be more concerned with his dying Queen than the security of his gardens, forbidden trysts, and devastatingly beautiful women with blonde hair and sultry blue eyes.

"It's probably best that you leave. More guard will be here shortly." He crossed his arms and let the anger boil in his stomach, walking passed her when he re-entered the gardens. How could Endymion do this to them? If they had just been sent away in the first place...

"Thank you General, I know you didn't have to do that." To be clear it wasn't her smile that angered him. Her smile only further solidified that Venusian power was potent regardless if she was trying to charm him or not. Her smile was damning to him, and he longed to pull her back into his arms but Kunzite would never dare to do that.

It was easier for him to believe she was bewitching him than to accept that he understood her better with each question or challenge she posed him about why this continued. That she was far more concerned for Serenity and the sanctity of their work than anything. The way she always came to this world so forbidden to her without fear spoke volumes to Kunzite. She'd die for that Princess as quickly as he'd die for Endymion. She was strong no doubt, devoted and determined if not dangerous, Kunzite couldn't help but admire her for more than her blinding beauty. There was something within her that was just as brilliant, an impossible road to travel- and Kunzite felt infuriated.

"We both know how bad that could have been for us both." For once he meant his tone to be biting, frigid and unwelcoming. He didn't want to see her again, he knew if he did he might fall beneath her spell and never recover. It was easy enough to fall prey to her beauty and now that he was beginning to see glimpses of more, there was simply no way this could go on any longer. Kunzite Longed to speak with Zara since his Prince was such a love sick fool he wouldn't believe a lick of advice given.

He admired Venus of course, the way she held her head high and gave him the curt nod of a fellow Commander as she brushed by him to collect her Princess. He followed directly behind her just in case more guard came, anxious to carry on with his life. Anxious to begin purging himself of the memory of her face, the freckles he noticed on the bridge of her nose, those green flecks in her eyes and full lips that looked like soft pink rose petals. That intoxicating scent of her perfume, and the feel of her in his arms, that consuming buzz of her power against his flesh. Goodbye was best before he could allow himself to feel more than vain admiration and comradery with the Venusian.

He could sense the goodbye without her even looking at him. Kunzite felt it somehow in the way she scolded her Princess, grasping her arm in that manner she had the first time he saw her like a rattled mother bringing order to a child. Endymion and Serenity were both unphased otherwise of course, but something in Venus' words told him he might not see her again. Good. One of them needed to end this and if his Prince wouldn't allow him, perhaps Venus could.

Endymion seemed to sense it too when he turned around to look at him after the hum of their power faded on the breeze in that flash of golden magic. His eyes fell heavy and Kunzite stared coldly back at the Prince with the weathered heart. He felt sorrow for Endymion and hoped that his own love for the ebony haired man would be enough, even when his eyes were so hard and frigid as he bore a glare into the Prince's hopeless blues.

"This ends now."


	5. Chapter 5

"This ends now."

The effects of their magic hadn't yet dissipated from his skin before he was storming off back toward the palace without so much as a backward glance, ignoring the way Endymion called out to him. Kunzite was beyond furious, beyond done with the utter madness that had begun to take over their lives in such a way that he couldn't even trust his own love struck Prince to form a rational thought. As suspected, he was summoned by several more guard who reported sighting an intruder in the gardens and Kunzite was forced to feign ignorance and forgo another nights sleep to search the grounds for someone he knew he would not find.

Absent as the young beauty he'd held in his arms was, Kunzite could feel her with him still. Perhaps the magic of her seeped deeper into his skin by the contact, or inhaled with one of the forbidden breaths he'd taken of her scent of oranges mingling with honeysuckle. Kunzite couldn't help but wonder how long he'd carry her with him.

He avoided Endymion the next day, spending the majority of his time with Nephrite trying to work through peace treaties between their lands. Kunzite thought they had come to an agreement but despite how well he got along with the kind and charismatic General, the people of the Northern Americas and his Middle Eastern lands were less than agreeable in their vast differences. He found that these new governments further complicated things, each different and it was no longer sufficient for them as Kings to declare that war not take place. There were procedures involved, and millions of people to appease, more to consider than ever. Kunzite was also almost grateful for the distraction that involved something other than blonde haired blue eyed goddesses who seemed to think their gardens were playgrounds.

He wasn't a fool, he knew things could be worse and yet his mood only soured the longer the week dragged on. The past days had opened a void inside of him that called out for the unknown and an intoxicating girl who had woven herself between his thoughts which leaked into his dreams. These were days he longed for Zara, the wise old woman who always seemed to know just how to guide him when his heart became confused with his head and no amount of rationality could ground him. Of course Endymion fared far worse than himself, everyone seemed to be holding their breath in wait for the Queen's fate. Kunzite may have been pissed at him, still was in fact, but when days went by without a sign of Serenity he noted Endymion's somber tones and his anger faded.

He was off night duty again, resigned to a comfortable silence of sitting on the edge of the courtyard sharing a bottle with his Prince. Zoisite lingered on his night shift keeping to himself of course because the tension between his superiors was thick and the way they were drinking it was quite possible that fists could fly. Truly the youngest Shitennou was perhaps simply eavesdropping for information, a tag team effort between himself and Jadeite in efforts to learn more about these roguish Goddesses.

Kunzite eyed the younger man as he took a long drink of the amber fluid, his lips tensing as the alcohol burned down his throat and his blue eyes clenched shut, the bottle offered back to him with a casual hand. He was already at a level of comfortable numbness, as he called it, gladly accepting the bottle back for a hard drink. Kunzite fell to amusement, lips quirking in a very ironic smirk with the singular thought that 'misery loves company.'

"What's so funny?" Endymion asked suddenly, brow quirked and hand fast to steal the bottle back. Kunzite wasn't a man to show much emotion. Laughter wasn't a normal occurrence, so when his deep chuckles turned into a sudden fit of laughter, Zoisite and Endymion were both reduced to confused stares at the silver haired man as though he'd just sprung a second head. Endymion lowered the bottle from his lips slowly, swallowing hard and staring with wide eyes. "...Kunzite?" His voice was comically small.

"You're a lovesick FOOL!" He exclaimed through fits of laughter that was so rare for him that Zoisite dropped any and all facade that he was paying the least bit of attention to his duties with a concerned, slack jawed stare. The hard scowl on Endymion's lips only made Kunzite laugh harder. "You just met this girl and you have been miserable!"

Zoisite shifted his eyes between them, a sweat breaking over his brow at the murderous expression on Endymion's face. True there were larger things happening in the Prince's life, but Kunzite saw the situation with Serenity as a controllable that should have been taken care of before something so careless as love could blossom between them.

"I fail to see why this is so funny to you." Endymion took a quick drink, his narrowed blue eyes never leaving the silver haired General who found such amusement in his suffering. Even Kunzite was probably fueled by the liquor at this point. In truth his amusement was a mutual suffering, one that they shared like the bottle passed between them, drinking from the same sort of forbidden fascination. True where Endymion was truly in love, Kunzite felt a kinship and certain shallow addictive thirst that he told himself would fade with time like the loss of an acquaintance. It was fact that she would be beautiful, perhaps that wasn't a strong enough word, and her beauty was indeed haunting to him. He told himself that was the only haunting thing about her.

"Because Your Highness, you don't just meet someone for five minutes and decide that you love them." Kunzite remained the grinning fool as he lazily took the bottle back from Endymion who had been hogging it a few minutes with long desperate drinks. Though his laughter died down to lighter chuckles, he continued to grin like a fool. Certainly beat the boozy alternative of growing weak at the weight of it all in the moment, especially better than his infamous temper the drink sometimes fueled. Of course Zoisite and Endymion were equally taken aback by the sudden outburst, further reminded why women fell all over themselves for the warlord for weeks after one of his drunken nights.

They'd all admired his silent command, the way people feared and respected his calm stoicism, but to see Kunzite relaxed after more than a few drinks all carefree and approachable, he was a completely different person. Despite the many brawls and wars he'd partaken in, his teeth were white and in good condition though not quite perfect. The lines around his mouth formed deep dimples around his lips and his grey eyes were light in his amusement, a spark of life not commonly seen from Kunzite and left his Prince and fellow Shitennou in awe. They were all beautiful as far as men went, Kunzite always had a sharpness about his appearance made softer by the silver length of his hair, but when he bothered to smile it was like a light turned on somewhere.

"How do YOU know so much about love Mr. Notch on my Belt?" Endymion bit, clearing his throat and concentrating on getting the bottle back from the far too amused General. It was better than the silent treatment he'd received before, and the anger that no doubt went with it.

"Oh no, I think you have me confused with Jadeite." Kunzite grinned further, his amusement fading as he gently accepted the bottle back from Endymion and put it to his lips. Kunzite wasn't smiling when Endymion turned to took at him again. "And I don't know much about love, I'm not afforded the luxury to know what that would feel like." His eyes darkened, staring into the amber fluid of his drink. Only drunk could Endymion get the man to speak more than two words at a time. This was how he got to know Kunzite so well, many nights in the rose garden destroying their livers. "Love is wasted on a man like me. I have my loyalty to you," He rose the glass bottle toward Endymion and took a short drink in toast, "I have my brothers... sex is just a primal human need." He took a longer drink, Endymion not convinced. "Love only makes you weak."

It was fact that Endymion was a romantic, the stereotypical tall, dark, and handsome Prince. Always a gentleman aside from vicious teasing and the occasional bender he accompanied the Shitennou on either in the taverns or beneath the stars by the bonfire. Kunzite suspected the Prince had either remained pure by some stretch of the imagination or had done something regrettable in a booze induced night of sin. He thought it might have explained why Beryl hung around him so intensely, but Kunzite was never one to press for such intimate detail. The very idea of love did nothing but piss him off. He was grateful that Endymion didn't see his very dramatic roll of his grey eyes in remembrance of one of his last conversations with Zara about the very topic.

Sure, Kunzite found love among the four brothers and Prince he gained by the grace of his destiny. The King and Queen who accepted him into their court as one of their own, trusting him with everything from the entire world's armies to their Son gained as the family he never had. Kunzite found himself missing Zara however, times like this when her fantastical words of a woman he had yet to meet who would disarm him and make him crave no other. A different kind of love Zara spoke of, a notion that terrified him with the thought he wouldn't have control over it.

Kunzite tried not to think about this too hard, or he'd break into a different kind of hysterics that would leave him no better off than Endymion. Perhaps this fed his hesitation in knowing a woman for longer than his primal urges allowed. Reinforcing his beliefs that he would never marry or bear children with iron because they had no place in the life of one of The Four. Born to serve and protect a future of magic wielding Terrans, living a life of perpetual danger

"My friend, I think that's because you look at love from the entirely wrong angle." Endymion plucked a perfect red rose from a nearby bush and placed it daintily in Kunzite's long silver hair with a playful chuckle.

"When I look up at that Moon each night, and I think of that GORGEOUS Goddess, I feel stronger than a thousand men." Kunzite suddenly thought he might puke. "When I think of us, and all the things we could do together, I'm unstoppable, immortal!" Now Endymion was grinning like a fool, the sadness not lost to his blue eyes when his face lifted to the bright Moon above. Kunzite suddenly wished he was anywhere but sitting on that fountain listening to the wistful dreams of his Prince, torn because perhaps there was jealousy there alongside his want for Endymion to find happiness. The Prince seemed to get tunnel visioned when he found something he wanted, or got an idea in his head. There was also dread caused by the very Princess he honed in on.

"We could stop this stupidity and truly make this an Alliance for the first time, it could be real Kunzite!" Endymion sighed dreamily, shifting his starlit gaze toward the pale haired, brooding General at his side in amusement.

"Come on old man... don't you want someone to spend this miserable life with? Someone to share your victories and shortcomings with? Someone to build your world around?"

"I believe my world already revolves around you. I cannot juggle both." Kunzite raised a pale brow, pulling the rose from his hair and cussing when a thorn bit into his thumb. "You just described to me every way that Love makes you weak." He frowned at the offending flower and dropped it in the fountain behind him.

The days to come were darker than any Kunzite could remember. Their Queen passed late the following night while he and Nephrite toiled by candlelight at his desk on treaties. He was grateful, and yet so pained that Endymion was at her side with her hand in his when she went. Kunzite remained the strong sentinel during it all, only shedding tears in the privacy of his chamber and otherwise remained a rock for his men and poor Endymion to lean on.

Kunzite had commissioned a certain artist to design and construct a statue for the fountain in Endymion's private courtyard, arriving shortly after the Queen's burial. This artist had painted his Aphrodite, which still hung above the fireplace in his study and the General had made the artist a wealthy man. Kunzite hired him to do all the artwork for the royal family including the statue of Aphrodite now perched in the center of his own garden. He captured the Queen perfectly, her face that serene and sweet smile that was saturated in kindness, her features gentle and loving as she had been. Kunzite sunk on to the cobbled stone in front of it with Endymion as he wept, clutching at his cape and burying his face like a child, thanking him repeatedly. Kunzite found himself wrapping arms around the Prince, fighting tears of his own and rocking him gently until he was fit to stand again.

The King was practically catatonic, unmoving or unwilling to leave his chambers once the Queen was buried. Their love had been legendary, often moving and warming the hearts of anyone who stood witness to it, Kunzite included. Endymion remained somewhat strong through it all, Kunzite was only grateful that the Prince didn't fall back on old habits of heavy drinking though he too became somewhat recluse to his rooms or gardens. He tried to be understanding, and yet they had an entire planet to run, leaving the Four Kings to the task during their time of mourning.

Kunzite and Nephrite were playing a juggling game between trying to make peace between their Kingdoms and seeing to it that Elysium didn't fall to ruin and neglect. Anything that required a diplomatic touch, Kunzite so generously assigned the task to Zoisite, and often Jadeite had to run the training drills for him. This pleased him least since his armies did not fear the younger blonde General, and would not work as hard under his order. Regardless the Four moved as a unit as they always did, late night meetings into early mornings, however Kunzite did not fail to see the other changes he began to notice in Endymion.

Serenity had been the final blow. Weeks had passed without so much of a word from the young Goddess and part of Kunzite felt triumph for it. His final icy words toward Venus must have struck a chord, or perhaps they were frightened away at the prospect of being caught. Maybe the novelty of their unimportant planet wore off quickly enough that the Goddesses were swept back into their own lives with their precious Alliance. Endymion was Kunzite's concern, the way he seemed to be ill at times with pale skin and dull eyes. The Prince was clearly not eating or drinking, and some mornings Kunzite couldn't get him to leave his bed. There were mornings that he came to wake Endymion to find him already sitting by his window peering outside at the Moon falling over the horizon.

"Has Serenity been by?" He'd ask with a croaking and tired voice. Desolation would mask over his features and Kunzite could feel his heart break with every question. Soon Endymion stopped speaking all together.

The Shitennou began to invite Endymion out, forced him to bathe and shave but the Prince wouldn't have it. Not even the promise of liquor, or a bonfire at their favorite spot was enough to bring any life back to the Prince. Nephrite would bring him his favorite foods, and tons of imported chocolates, and wine to no avail. Zoisite would sit and read to him, trying to rouse some form of debate or reaction, and mostly Endymion would stare blankly to the dark skies beyond his tower window. Kunzite was getting more desperate the more gaunt and faded Endymion became. He'd never known panic or concern like this before, he could almost feel it in his own chest, a feeling he could only describe as heartbreak.

"Endymion please... you have to tell me what you need. I cannot help you if you don't speak." Kunzite set a small plate of food on the nightstand, kneeling beside the bed and staring into blue eyes that were once so vibrant and deep. "You HAVE to eat before you waste away...I'll do whatever I must Endymion, give anything you ask if you would just get some air." Kunzite frowned, heaving a sigh between his lips when there was no response to his begging. His nerves were frazzled, he was exhausted, never so close to the end of his own rope, and Kunzite was no man to beg for anything.

Kunzite slunk into an armchair in the study, forehead rested in his palm and grey eyes shut. He heard Nephrite enter not long after and the exhausted sigh as he leaned against the sideboard.

"You look like Hell frozen over." Kunzite's grey eyes met warm brown ones, Nephrite looked like death also but it never stopped the warmth from sparkling those big brown eyes. His wild chestnut waves were pulled back in a loose ponytail, and he was in dire need of a shave.

"You're starting to look like one of those burly woodcutters." Kunzite would have smirked had he the spirit to, his lips remained a relaxed frown but Nephrite smiled.

"Yeah well, maybe I'll let it grow a bit. One less thing I'd have to worry about." He raked a hand down his face, yawning and stroking the scruff on his chin. "I'm not trying to overstep boundaries, but I've asked Jadeite to cover your night shift tonight. It's early still... you need to rest before you fall over. You've taken too many nights and early meetings, we'll finalize proposals for our Governments tomorrow." Nephrite stood tall and placed the paperwork he'd brought in on Kunzite's desk with a singular stride of his long legs.

"I think I'm in no place to argue with you for once." Kunzite murmured, shifting his gaze up to the painting, there was an odd sensation in his stomach. A fluttering he had to try not see as a yearning to see her.

"Good. I'll leave you to it then. It's early still, but I suggest you get some rest. I know I'm calling it an early one. Zoisite will check in on Endymion again before he turns in." Kunzite nodded, grateful for Nephrite who seemed to know his own limits better than he did. The mountainous man left him, retreating for his rooms through the darkened doorway. The palace was too silent, no chattering maids or childish antics from Jadeite and Zoisite, no Endymion to argue with him over everything else.

Old habits die hard, but Kunzite set out to get drunk. Ignoring his body's pleas for rest, he pulled a bottle from a desk drawer and slipped down the spiral staircase just outside the Shitennou's wing that lead out into the gardens. He took long strides out toward the lake to prop himself under the lone tree, missing the nights where his men would join him. He'd been in Elysium seven years now, a mere three since the Silver Millennium business seemed to take off and he began to hear stories of warrior Goddesses and their wrath, weeks since he'd seen any sign of these same Goddesses.

He knew he did this more often than he should as of late, and Nephrite didn't need the added stress of picking up his slack so he always timed his benders well. Zoisite was trying to distract Endymion, Jadeite was on night patrol and Nephrite was either out at a tavern himself or already asleep. Kunzite was sitting under one of the sparse trees in an open field by his favorite lake, resting against the tree trunk and staring up at the sky. He wanted to shout at the Moon, rage and curse it- but knew they wouldn't hear him or they wouldn't care. He was torn in two.

On one hand, embrace the Princess' visits and hopefully breathe some life back into Endymion who was so wrought with grief on varying levels that he could scarcely function. He did the very bare minimum every day and was otherwise locked away in his room. The other hand told him that Endymion was strong, he'd get through this and life could somewhat return to normal. Kunzite understood that his Prince would never be the same carefree boy he'd grown to love so much, but men often weren't the same after great heartbreak. They were often reforged in steel instead of stone and much harder to break. If the Princess had truly abandoned them, then he didn't have much of a choice in the matter and Kunzite refused to give up on him. Part of him hated the Moon Goddess who was so achingly beautiful with her wrathful and blindingly brilliant guardian. They'd crashed into their world without warning, toyed with his Prince and rattled his brain then left them without a word or reason. Perhaps they were caught somehow, though he imagined his Prince would have already fallen to his punishment. Well... Kunzite would have taken that fall gladly.

He found himself looking for her. Any flash of gold in the dark, any echo of her magic in the air that spoke of her arrival. Kunzite found himself missing her voice, that soft but sharp sound of her that often dripped annoyance or impatience at him, sometimes teasing and he missed that most of all. He thought her tone should have sounded condescending to him, but all he ever heard was a mutual frustration, a need for order that their Prince and Princess had ripped away from them. A mutual frustration that they were helpless to stop the budding romance between the royals of their forbidden Kingdoms. Until Serenity stopped showing up, a blessing and curse it turned out.

The more Kunzite drank, the more he thought about the ruthless Goddess with the golden hair, the more he wanted to speak with her about matters other than the forbidden state of things. It was a tired bit of news to him at this point, and they had whole other worlds to learn about from each other. The alcohol seemed to be making a more accepting man of him where by the grace of soberness Kunzite would have been entirely untrusting. Of course by this point he hadn't realized how quickly his bottle began to empty, and the stars began blurring in the sky, the cool tones of night swirling around him like a painting. The drunken haze was welcome like the cool breeze against his skin through the open shirt he wore, refreshing on the few beads of sweat that had broken around his hairline.

He didn't remember walking. At some point he hit the bottom of the bottle but the night was laced with delirium, and bright stars. He thought he'd returned to Elysian's gardens, finding a tree and sitting to rest against the trunk. The air was fragrant and there were marble statues so he must have been home. He was feverish, and a cold sweat matted his hair to his neck and forehead. He felt like he was floating, he also felt like he might be sick. This was where Kunzite blacked out.

He dreamed. He dreamed of a beach. It was silent save for the gentle and peaceful crashing of the waves. Kunzite could almost feel the sand between his toes, the gentle surf lapping at his bare feet and the wind at his chest through his open shirt. The sky was soft, a powder blue with sparse clouds and the Sun was low on the horizon. Peace, washed over his whole being and he was filled with the light feeling of floating. He saw her before she saw him, she was standing at the water's edge, her back facing him when he turned a corner. Her gold hair was almost the color of honey, the way the soft light hit it and drifted on the wind in wistful soft waves. Her gown was completely sheer, hiding nothing of the perfect body beneath it and it floated around her like a ghost lover, clinging and begging for her to love it in return. She turned then, as if sensing his presence. Her eyes were wide, and so sad, tired, and out of place with her perfect body bared to him beneath the sheer silk and begging to be touched. She stepped toward him, her dainty feet leaving sparse prints in the sand like she simply floated over it. Her full lips were uttering words that he didn't understand though he tried, but didn't know the language and she held out a closed fist, offering its contents to him. Kunzite extended his hand, large and calloused and she dropped a large, priceless golden pearl into his palm. His pale eyes stared at it, it was perfectly round and almost painful to the eye in brilliance. He should have put it in his pocket, that's what his brain screamed at him to do almost painfully loud that it echoed in his skull. Put it away, cherish it, love it, PROTECT it. She was suddenly pressing herself into him intimately like a lover, he'd never been able to gaze at her eyes this close before, like cool Caribbean waters that glittered with flecks of precious gold. She came up on her toes to kiss him, her perfect lips were full and so soft against his. He felt her tongue graze his lip and the pearl fell to the sands below so he could put his hands on her, grip her to him and eagerly meet her tongue with his. She tasted sweet and Kunzite sought to devour her lips with his own, his hands wandering over the silken fabric of her dress and warm skin. When it got more heated, frenzied really and he was so close to tearing the meager fabric from her body, she stepped away from him. Tears fell from her eyes like small tidal waves down her face. She looked broken, utterly decimated like her soul had withered away and her eyes matched the pale blue of the sky. There was no vibrant blue, no small hint of green or flecks of gold. She no longer looked like a Goddess but she was still oh so beautiful even with her crumpled face that was so, so broken. Did he do this to her? Did he rob her of something so great? He'd almost forgotten the pearl, how could he have forgotten it!? Kunzite dropped to his knees in the sand, eyes frantic and heart pounding like it never had before in search of the pearl that was so bright it hurt to look at. It should be easy to find in the dull sands but where was it? It couldn't have gone far, he'd only just dropped it! She was backing away from him backward toward the sea which foamed unnaturally like it sought to take her away. She was leaving no footprints so how would he find her? He was so frantic, panicked and damn near hysteric to find the pearl, his eyes snapping up to watch her as she sank so slowly into the sea but the pearl was gone. By the time he looked up again, it was just in time to see her pale blue eyes. They were wide and so sad as she sank into the sea and disappeared.

Kunzite started awake, jerking with a cry in his throat and tears were streaming down his cheeks. He wiped them away quickly, reeling at the sudden pain in his head and wave of nausea that had him emptying the contents of his stomach at the base of the tree he lay against. It felt like forever he lay there, the cold sweat breaking out over his skin and he opened his shirt more to get some air. He blinked a few times, assessing his surroundings and thinking he was simply in the royal gardens lost somewhere in their vastness. It took Kunzite a few moments to register anything, noting his surroundings a bit closer and realizing he was indeed not in the gardens of the palace.

"What the Hell..." He muttered to himself, willing his legs to let him stand shakily. Kunzite ran a hand through his tangled silver mane and wondered how he'd walked the three miles to the Holy Temples, a place that he actively avoided because Kunzite found the people that came here to worship the Goddesses that shunned them, irrational and ridiculous. He had to admit it was beautiful and well thought out. There was a large temple in the center and four smaller ones that each had its own garden so you could worship the Goddess you specifically seek favor from. He found himself in her gardens. The air was fragrant with night blooming jasmine and white lilies, her white marble statue was classic- her nude form covered strategically by her hair, her lips curled into a suggestive smile as she held out her hand to her worshipers. His head pounded briefly, offended by the object she held in her hand that blinded him in the sun. It was a golden pearl, her offering of love to all that came to the garden. Kunzite frowned deeply in remembrance of the dream he was certain he wouldn't forget anytime soon. He had dropped that pearl, and the damage it caused still shook him.

It was still early but the Sun was swiftly on the rise. People were starting to file into the gardens for worship and Kunzite found that most of them filed into the garden where he stood. Most of them came to Venus. Kunzite stepped forward, peering up at her smiling face in defiance and offered an angry prayer that she would leave him alone. He turned to leave, briskly walking back toward the palace before someone noticed his absence. Kunzite really did not feel like explaining his drunken walk to the Temple's gardens- least of all to Jadeite.

He decided on his morning walk back, that this torment was based on a strictly primal urge and Kunzite hadn't indulged himself with a woman in many weeks. Granted the one time he'd tried it didn't go so well, he refused to be one of the many men no doubt that fell to her feet in worship. Yes she was Goddess-like, yes she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever laid eyes on - and that's no exaggeration- but Kunzite would be no stereotype for her many admirers. It was forbidden, and it was wrong. He was better than this, stronger, and he found himself grateful he couldn't remember his no doubt betraying thoughts of the previous night.

"Good Morning General Kunzite." Her familiar voice pulled him from his thoughts. He probably looked and smelled like hell and he had half a mind to tell her to take a hike. Her red hair was a distinction that prevented his crass dismissal of her and he turned to greet the woman with tired eyes.

"Beryl... what brings you out here?" Her red lips turned in a warm smile, her green eyes bright and fresh and beautiful. He felt like he might be sick again in realization that it was her that night he had dismissed so rudely, a measure of wounded pride no doubt, that his own body had not cooperated though in a stable frame of mind he was glad nothing transpired between them. Kunzite honestly didn't think he was her type in the first place, he'd always been a bit more standoffish than usual with her, something that even now she ignored.

"I thought I might head for the temples. Did you worship this morning?" Her voice was light and sweet and it made him feel worse.

"Um. no...I was just-"

"I think us common villagers call this the walk of shame." Her smile broadened and she laughed a little, leaning into his arm to speak in a hushed voice. All Kunzite could offer her was a defeated smile.

"Not quite. As far as I can remember I don't believe another party was witness to my escapades last night whatever that was." She walked at his side a moment. She always smelled of incense and wore various gemstones and jewelry like some high class gypsy. She was quite beautiful, full figured and curvy it was no wonder he'd allowed her to pull him away and at least attempt to enjoy a passionate night. He was almost sorry his body hadn't cooperated- but she still gave him the creeps, he never could place why. "Hey...I'm really sorry about that night.."

"It's OK General... though I do have an herb for your little...er... big problem?" He blinked down at her a few times as her green eyes flickered downward in appraisal. They both laughed, though his was a tense and uncomfortable laugh at her lewd attempt at humor.

"I'd tell you that doesn't normally happen but I doubt you'd believe me." She laughed more and he tensed when she leaned against his arm. Beryl always brought out this cold pit in his stomach, but then again that could be the vicious hangover he was nursing.

"I'd say you could prove me wrong, but that wasn't in the cards this morning." He gave her a nervous glance and subconsciously moved his arm so she wasn't touching him anymore. She gazed up at him with bright eyes, a teasing smile on her lips. "How is Endymion doing?"

"He's faring the best he can at the moment." Her face fell, Kunzite was painfully aware that she was in love with the Prince- Hell most of the Kingdom's women were, Beryl was hardly special but she liked to think that since she served the royal family on occasion that she stood a chance. Even if Endymion had the slightest interest in her, she wasn't of noble blood and wouldn't even be considered. Gods if she only knew that his heart currently belongs to another, even if she too had abandoned him.

"Please give him my regards...I hope to be allowed to visit soon." She was hinting, and Kunzite put two and two together and realized she'd tried to sleep with him to get closer to Endymion. Wouldn't be the first time a woman did that to him, of course he made a point to humiliate those girls. He was least kind to them, probably the source of his brutish reputation, not that he cared. Kunzite frowned and straightened his posture even though his entire body wanted to revolt.

"The castle is on lockdown until further notice. The royal family is grieving. If your services are required we will summon you. Until then, good day Beryl." He muttered, walking faster until she was no longer by his side. He didn't even bother to give her the courtesy of even looking at her.

After a long shower and some food, he felt considerably better. Nephrite was kind enough to not give him grief about being late to their meeting, reviewing agenda items and proposals to be sent off to their governments for review. Had he been a praying man he'd be begging for the war to be called off and negotiations they'd drawn up agreed upon. Kunzite was a man to fight his own battles, and there was absolutely no way he could leave Elysium in its current state. Endymion was much the same as he left him the previous night, food left untouched on the nightstand and he simply stared out the windows while Kunzite read his supposed agenda for him, one he knew would go unfollowed.

Drills were challenging to say the least with the pounding in his head, Nephrite scolded him for a change that he should have rested the previous night. He wasn't wrong but Kunzite was hardly in the mood to be chastised. He took some time in the saunas afterward, seeking to sweat out whatever lingering intoxication had him down, followed by a ridiculous amount of water. He'd pulled his jacket and shirt off, stepping into the study to stand in front of the fireplace with a cold glass of water still in hand sweat plastering silver hair to the tanned skin of his scarred back.

His lips turned into a frown, peering up at the girl that looked like her, and didn't, in recollection of the strange dream that plagued him all morning. Kunzite could almost feel the immense weight that gold pearl in his hand, still unsure of the meaning other than the perfectly human need he was currently denying himself. He refused to get wrapped up in her beauty like some sniveling idiot, though he wouldn't soon forget the way she looked in that dream. The sheer dress, soft light on her skin, and vibrancy of her eyes in the sun where he'd only ever seen her in darkness. Kunzite was certain his memory would do nothing to flatter the reality of her. It made him want to know her by sunlight, a thought that angered him and so he tucked it away and turned his thoughts to his night shift.

Kunzite retreated to his rooms, shutting himself in and discarding the remainder of his uniform to shower in efforts to sneak a nap in before his night watch. He'd taken more shifts lately, but it was his turn to give Nephrite a break tonight and Zoisite had been sent to handle some more diplomatic matters. Jadeite would see to Endymion, so it was only fair. He was only too thankful that when sleep did eventually find him, Kunzite didn't dream.

Sunlight was fading by the time his grey eyes opened to the darkening room. The sky softening in varying shades of orange, yellow and pink. Summer was in full swing, his favorite season, and upon waking Kunzite felt a little lighter. Perhaps the detox in the sauna with some actual sleep was all he needed. Kunzite left the front of his uniform a little more open than normal, still rebelling against the collar swearing it was out to choke him to death. He opted for simple black shoes instead of boots, way too hot for that even at night. Gloves were left behind as was his cape, not wanting to be overburdened in the heat, no one would notice anyway. With a final adjustment to the sword strapped to his hips by the restricting belt, he left for his shift following the same routine. Grounds, stable, gardens, and repeat.

Things would have felt normal even, if only Endymion would come back to them.

Kunzite was surprised to feel the strange hum of power this evening, it made his heart pound and the sweat to break out over his skin in anticipation, as well as dread. Perhaps this would rouse Endymion, breathe some life back into him. It didn't change the fact that this was forbidden, and highly dangerous but what was the cost the Shitennou would pay to see Endymion smile again, grace his gardens and fill the dining hall with laughter, join them in their drunken bonfires and strategize economic planning? High. Very high. Kunzite picked up the pace, trying to make it to Endymion's gardens as soon as possible and still be thorough in his guard because not a step could be missed if they were here.

He hung back when he heard voices, standing just outside the gates to listen. A breath of relief passed his lips when he heard Endymion, tearful and thanking the Venusian for bringing her back to him. It was a joyful noise that made the cold General feel something warm in his chest.

"You pray to my mother then, I am no Aphrodite. A mere shadow of her greatness." She'd replied. Her humbleness making his throat constrict like there was a piece of very dry bread lodged in it. They weren't humble beings, how could they be when they had powers that could lure you in against your will and smite you dead before you could even think to draw your sword? But Venus's voice was gentle, beautiful like a song and completely genuine- that edge to it was gone.

"Then I pray to you, Venus, instead. You have my eternal gratitude, I know the risks you take for us both." Kunzite had never heard Endymion so sincere, like a man offered a meal after being starved for a month. His lips tugged into an indifferent frown, he didn't want to like her. Didn't want her to be anything more than beauty incarnate, vain and cruel like he had initially thought the Goddesses to be. But then she told him to eat, have a meal with Serenity and enjoy the gardens. Heard her strict orders for him not to let her leave the gardens for now as it wasn't safe, and he was grateful and tormented all at once. Venus was caring, devoted, and fiercely loyal and concerned for not only her Princess but his Prince. Someone by all means, she didn't even know.

"I know you're there." Her voice was soft but Kunzite knew she was addressing him. Endymion had escorted Serenity away, he thought to follow them but if they were restricted to the gardens he would allow them their time tonight. Endymion deserved that much though he craved conversation with his Prince more than the water he needed to soothe his dry throat. With a deep breath, he stepped into the stone door frame of the garden, arms crossed and Kunzite couldn't find it in himself to be indifferent. Emotions ran through him, they were high anyway with the Queen's death still fresh, and he was elated that Endymion had left his room, that he'd heard the Prince's voice for the first time in weeks.

He wasn't prepared to see her, all gold and blue eyes before him. All softness and loving with the gentle smile she offered him. Her body was wrapped in a gold silk gown that was somehow more scandalous than the short uniform she usually wore and yet enhanced her beauty like nothing he'd ever seen. The gold gown draped loose and low around her breasts and nearly exposed her hip bones. Even as she took a step toward him nearly baring her full leg, the fabric draped and flowed around her like it was alive. She was breathtaking, he literally had to remind himself to start breathing again and he approached her slowly. Kunzite stepped close as he dared, remembering his dream, he was close enough to peer down in her eyes and see the green and gold glitter they promised. He was scared they'd only be blue.

"So this is how it will be?" He whispered. His eyes dropped to her lips when she bit the bottom petal between her teeth and her stare seemed to drop to his lips in return. From this proximity he could smell the oranges and floral scent of her skin, see the faint spatter of freckles across her perfect small nose, how dark and thick her lashes are making her blue eyes all the more vivid against the gold shade of her hair. Gods he wanted to know what it would truly be like to kiss her.

"I'm guessing your Prince has fared worse than Serenity. I'm truly sorry to hear of the Queen's passing. She was a lovely person." It was a sore spot for sure, and he was sure his eyes hardened with his voice at her kind and whispered words that seemed genuine with the sadness in her eyes.

"Yes. She was the greatest Queen Elysian has ever known. How would you know her?" Kunzite told himself not to trust her, not to let her soft features and beauty fool him, anyone could speak pretty words. All the more ease with which you could obtain information.

"She was present at my birth." Her words took him off guard completely, his brow furrowed and he stepped a little closer to her, awaiting her explanation. "Your King and Queen escorted Aphrodite to my birth place. She was the first Terran to offer me love." It was like the walls of his heart crumbled allowing the emotions to penetrate with barbed spears. The imagery was powerful to him, remembering the long trip the King and Queen had taken a few years prior to take part in a ceremony for the Silver Millennium. He'd taken time to read all he could about the legendary Sailor Venus and how pivotal she was to their goals and all that her role entailed. As well as the strange nature of her birth, a newer published print that Zoisite had snapped up right away. It was overwhelming to read, he was similar yes, but the weight on this girl's shoulders was great, their expectations of her astronomical. And yet she gazed at him with love, and warmth, and pity at his loss. Had he been a less stubborn man he may have had the mind to weep.

"I see." He said softly, unable to think of words, the English language becoming foreign with the new thoughts and emotions that all needed to be neatly sorted and packaged later so he could make sense of them. Kunzite brushed past her, stepping toward the newly erected statue of his late Queen and gazing up at her kind face. He kissed his fingers, pressing them to the carved marble of her feet, his mind offering a silent thank you to her soul which he hoped was at peace. His lips turned into a frown, not one of anger, his usual bored or icy demeanor, but sadness. "Thank you." He heard himself whisper, turning to regard the woman all clad in gold satin that pooled at her feet with statuesque elegance. "Thank you for what you did for Endymion."

Venus nodded at him, her hands fidgeting in front of her with what looked like nervousness. If nothing else he wanted, no needed to know her now. He was utterly fascinated, with far more than just the beauty that he knew no one else on Earth came close to, and he was hard pressed to believe that the full fledged Goddess of Love even compared to her radiance. It had something to do with her soul he decided, a devoted kindness and endless well of love she seemed to permeate.

"As I mentioned...I would be a disgrace to my titles if I were to deny a love like theirs." Kunzite chuckled at the sentiment, untrusting still, yet the notion made sense as ludicrous as he knew it all to be. The Moon could be easily sending spies and yet here he was, back in that same state of disarmament caused not by her appearance but something selfless and wild. Something that felt like freedom.

"Even if it disgraces your laws?" Kunzite teased, shifting toward her slightly on his feet, brow raised almost in a challenging fashion. He expected the her to be offended, yet her expression grew almost smug. Venus was a warrior through and through, and so it was that much more jarring on nights like this where she acted as such, and very much looked like a Princess.

"They are your laws too you know. You're doing a pretty good job at defying those yourself right now." His lips twitched, offering a small shrug. She wasn't wrong. Kunzite stepped forward, extending his arm to her. If he was to give Endymion some privacy this evening then he assumed it relieved him of his duty other than to keep their new guest company. She couldn't very well be left alone.

"In celebration of our disgrace...would you walk with me?" Venus remained silent other than to nod again, lacing her arm through his and resting her hand on his forearm and he tried with all his might to not reel from the contact, the close proximity of her power. Kunzite lead her into Zoisite garden, directly next to Endymion's. There was a tension that seemed to be brought on by their touching arms and Kunzite wasn't exactly a great conversationalist to begin with but Venus appeared to be content to look around wide eyed at the gardens in fascination. He struggled to not keep studying the curves of her face, to not hear Zara's voice in his mind.


	6. Chapter 6

It was one of those Summer nights that Kunzite could believe was truly magical. Not only by the grace of the Goddesses that had returned after so many days, but the not quite full Moon still swollen in the sky and illuminating the grounds with abnormal potency. As she slid her arm to link through his own he was hit by that he could feel her power again, at least that's what he assumed that feeling of his skin seeming to come alive beneath her touch even through his uniform. He observed as he always did, the way she glanced longingly in the direction her Princess had gone.

"The Heavenly Four are wardens to these gardens, my guard won't intrude passed the outer wall." Kunzite gestured with his free hand, hoping to soothe her anxiety some and so she could see the very prominent outside bordering wall to the inner more private gardens. "We reside nearby, or pace through them on guard. Since that is me tonight, they will stay empty. Your Princess will be quite safe with Endymion."

He watched her eyes flicker in the dark, observing what he explained with a slow exhale. Truly he just wanted to take the moment to study her features, to see if he could pinpoint what made her so special even from her Princess. Maybe it was her lack of fear or innate curiosity for everything. The only anxiety she seemed to show was the distance growing between her and Serenity. He took a step, gently tugging on their linked arms to guide her away and into Zoisite's neighboring garden. The motion caught her attention, Kunzite casually looked away as to not be caught staring at the features he longed to memorize, or the eyes that haunted him so in her absence these past weeks.

"I am sorry that I wasn't able to discuss this new arrangement with you." The exhale through his nose was silent, defeated in a way because had she come to him with whatever plan she had in mind he more than likely wouldn't have listened. He was so wrapped up in trying to figure out any other solution to bringing Endymion back into himself, obsessive even in his worry for the Prince, only to find this night that Serenity might have been the only solution. Kunzite peered down at his beautiful companion, meeting her eyes which became rather studious of his expression, the gardens around them seemingly forgotten though the European gardens were rather fascinating to behold. Even her continued response was distracted and soft. "I wouldn't have known how to contact you.."

"I'd be lying if I said I hadn't been contemplating how I'd handle things should you come back." He replied, feeling the defeat of it all. Knowing that he wanted to chase the Goddesses away, to report it to the King or summon the Lunar guard to collect the wayward women from Elysium permanently. And then Venus happened, her selflessness and genuine concern for his Prince, the way she spoke of his Queen and how it was very much like Endymion's late mother to be so accepting and loving. It alarmed him how real Venus was, not trying to make excuses or trick them. It dawned on him that she must have some plan in mind because last he saw her, she was as angry with Serenity as he was with Endymion.

"Well you didn't draw your sword, or tell us to leave. I'd say that's a good start." He looked at her a good few seconds before she realized he busted her staring up at him before she tore her eyes away, finally drifting to appreciate the gardens they'd entered. Kunzite wasn't entirely sure why it made his heart constrict, and he had to laugh a little because telling them to leave was exactly the plan he initially had in mind. It was worth it though wasn't it? To not watch his Prince waste away under the crushing weight of responsibility and heartbreak? It seemed to distract her again and his grey eyes drifted away to spin one of the many copper ornaments lining the walkway that would normally have been moving with a bit of a stronger breeze.

"I guess I decided that certain things are worth taking chances on." He replied, spinning another copper ornament in passing. She giggled, and Kunzite glanced behind him to see that she had been spinning them too, the hypnotic patterns they created entrancing her with childlike fascination. When her face lit up the way it did, her charming, musical laugh filling his ears it churned his insides in ways that frightened him. Because when she smiled at him the way she did now, her wide blue eyes crashing into his grey ones, Kunzite never wanted to see anything else ever again.

"When you love someone... that's worth everything." She replied in a softer tone, and understanding one because of course she would know he loved Endymion. He'd never be able to hide that from her least of all. She heaved a heavy sigh, distracting him with the deep rise and fall of her chest which Kunzite had painstakingly tried to avoid noticing the way her dress hugged her too enticing curves. Truthfully there wasn't a thing about the girl that wasn't distracting, from her long black lashes and graceful long neck down to the pale flashes of her thighs as she walked in that horribly seductive gown. "You and I, our hands are tied in this scenario I think. You must admit we have much to gain from this if it works. I think you love Endymion as much as I love Serenity, even you would find gains in joining our Alliance."

"A bold assumption all around. I know there are gains to joining the Alliance, but I have no need to be so long lived and powerful. An Earthen life is made more precious by our short spans of time, keeps us motivated in our goals with a more precise limit. There are always scenarios to consider, I refuse to allow my hands to be tied in anything without an escape plan." Kunzite frowned, swallowing hard when her fingers began to toy with the cuff on his uniform, glancing up at him through the gold fringe around her eyes and he began to sweat. Something told him it wasn't only from the Summer's heat.

"Pity Terrans aren't so adventurous...I would think people like us would get so used to being tied down that we begin to enjoy the routine of it. Maybe resent it for its restrictions. Or maybe we secretly relish in the wild freedom events like this give us. To have no option but to break some of those ties so that we might be able to touch something new. Create something beautiful." As a man, the dual meaning behind some of her words were trying to kill him. It helped nothing that everything she did was sensual but even her words, which were that of a strategist, were laced with imagery that stole his breath.

She wasn't wrong though, Kunzite was a man of routines and found comfort and solace in it. He hated this new arrangement for the very reason that it interrupted the norm with such dangerous implication. Even he had to admit the gains of their union to the Alliance would prove to be fruitful on many economic levels. To have access to Mercurian medicine, Jovian weaponry, and Martian training...to awaken magic in humans dormant with it was what frightened him. Kunzite knew little outside human nature but was quite certain their world wasn't ready for power on that level. To live near immortal lives had always felt like somewhat of a waste.

She gave him a small smile, the fact that she could see straight through him should have alarmed him but he found more amusement in it. He wiped his brow with the handkerchief he kept handy in his pocket, noting further their intimate slow pace, how Venus leaned into his arm just slightly and the soft romantic light made their walk feel all the more forbidden.

"I'm sure there was another solution than just to cave to their desires...I assume you have some sort of plan?" Venus laughed a little again, a defeated sigh passing her lips as though she had tried to explain something obvious that Kunzite just wasn't understanding.

"Oh General, if only you knew just how painful that would be for them you wouldn't say that. I think that in time, and with your help, I could possibly build a case with the Queen. Find a way to get him in front of her to discuss the goals of the Elysian royalty in line with the Silver Millennium. From what Serenity has told me they are rather similar, in the end peace is all any civilization strives for." He felt dumbfounded, suspicious was a knee jerk reaction of course, he could see the harm as well as the good in joining the Silver Millennium. The timing was too convenient, Endymion breaching his prime and no doubt whispers of legends surrounding the Shitennou who guarded him. Was Venus using her charms to sway him? Was she being too eager about this where she was so opposed before?

"That's ambitious." He remarked, studying her face in the dangerous task of looking passed her beauty for signs of other things Kunzite knew he should be wary of. Like those other women of town who tried in vain to gain his affections in order to gain status of some kind. Dangerous indeed because he seemed to find no ill intent in her depth, her many layers of varying beauty. "Surely the Queen wouldn't be so open to meeting until the Golden Crystal is found and in his grasp. As you now know some of us are blessed with magic... none of us are worthy or ready to hold such power."

"We could train you... she could train him to strengthen his powers. It's difficult, and might take time but if you let us, we could help you." Kunzite lost track of how long they stared at the other, walking so lazily down the stone pathway of Nephrite's garden, he didn't quite remember entering it really. His eyes widened, unsure at this point how to take her offers to help, her solid determination that her plan was the best course of action while there were still so many variables on his side he couldn't quite voice because he was sure there was reason he shouldn't.

"Why? Why would you help place such power in our hands when you know the risk of rebellion after so many years we've been.. displaced." He stopped at the base of a hill housing Nephrite's beloved gazebo, housing a massive telescope Kunzite thought he might show Venus. He didn't think of this now, to nailed down to think a proper thought let alone maneuver a telescope he wasn't proficient at to begin with. Rebellion was his main concern, the Silver Millennium would open Earth up to magic and they would immediately turn on them in retaliation. Surely Endymion, assuming that he held the Gold Crystal, would not allow it. Kunzite's brain had begun to work overtime, a million scenarios to consider.

"You love Endymion as much as I love Serenity. Their love will end in tragedy if we don't act, I can see that you know this. Earth and Moon were supposed to be great allies and something happened... something stole that from your people and no one knows why. There are myths and legends written about everything but this, and we are told to fear this planet. If there is something to unite us... is it not worth it? If for nothing else than for those we love above ourselves?" She was right. If they played their cards correctly then Endymion and Serenity might be the key to everything coming together as it should. There were more variables than he could properly process on the spot like this, and so he fell content to watch her cheeks turn about four shades of crimson by his reaction to her passionate words.

"It is what it is for now... I'll be vigilant in keeping the gardens free of other guard. The other three know about your visits and will aid me in keeping this discreet as possible." Her blue eyes hardened just slightly, irritation on her brow when she issued her affirming nod he'd seen a few times by now. It wasn't a matter of him being cold that he changed the subject for the moment, but a move of caution. "I wasn't prepared for a debate on such heavy topics right away. You speak with passion though, it makes me sorry we didn't speak much before."

"Admittingly I was very much on a mission General... a flurry of emotion not suited for proper conversation. Does Endymion ever make you so angry you forget yourself? I think we very much got off on the wrong leg."

"Foot? Is how I'm certain the expression goes. We got off on the wrong foot." He smiled in amusement, furthering the appealing flush over the freckled bridge of her nose. Kunzite barely remembered the last time their eyes left the other, but she tore her stare away to appraise the flowers around the winding path they took. "And to answer your question, of course Endymion infuriates me. I believe you've been allowed to bear witness to this already."

"Is that why you were so rude before?" Her head snapped back up at him, if only briefly to raise her brow. The shift of her gold hair vibrant and distracting in the moonlit break between the shadows. He smiled, he couldn't help it because she didn't know him the way others did. How short and crass he could be, especially when dealing with things like emotion he wasn't accustomed to. The arrival of this Goddess had haunted him for weeks from the vanity of his appreciation for her beauty, to the idea that there was so much more to her that he so dangerously wanted to know, and how similar they were. Of course speaking to her in more depth Kunzite easily realized they were in fact similar, but so very opposite the other. He coughed with purpose to reign in his face some, disarmed by her yet again that he was left so unguarded by her blunt honesty.

"I'm sure you would have reacted much the same if my Prince and I crash landed onto your planet without warning." He almost wanted to tell her, that her presence was dangerous to him. Distracting in ways he'd never experienced before. Things Venus had probably heard a million times. That she was beautiful, alluring, a unique creature of softness and harsh command, a warrior and a Princess. He wanted to ask her about the stories he'd heard of her wrath, because tonight the way the gold fabric danced around her legs when she walked and the way that dress softened her, he found it hard to see the soldier.

She paused as Kunzite once more wiped a bead of sweat from his hairline, seemingly enraptured by the beds of lilies surrounding the statue of the Goddess Nephrite had been knighted under.

"General, what do you call those?" She was so excited over a flower. It warmed his heart how childlike she was, reveling in the strange new flora that were all so common to him. Venus never released his arm but bent down slightly to smell one of the pink flowers. "These are beautiful! They remind me of one of my friends."

"Stargazer Lilies I believe." Kunzite placed the handkerchief back into a pocket, taking a small step closer to her to prevent her hand from slipping from his arm. Hot as it was out, he knew he'd miss the contact were it broken.

"They're fierce but feminine and they smell nice. They're much like one of my soldiers." Kunzite frowned, not that she'd notice. It was hard to be upset the way she pressed her nose in the flower to smell it, getting a light dusting of pollen on her freckled skin.

"You may take one back with you if you wish to give one to him." He tried to tell himself the sound of his own voice wasn't jealous, that there wasn't a man she was thinking of while she walked with him with linked arms. She laughed, it was a bell-like sound that made church bells sound foolish.

"SHE would love it, if I may." He'd forgotten like an idiot that her guard were female. He looked off to the side trying to regain the modicum of dignity he'd let slip between his fingers. He was a fool to think this Goddess belonged to anyone. The way she carried herself so sensual and free she seemed wild, and utterly her own.

"My apologies, it is uncommon for there to be female warriors on Earth- I forget my place." He wiped his brow, the heat suddenly becoming stifling. He was too proud to admit it was his nerves, even to himself. "I don't think Nephrite will mind."

"Who's Nephrite?" She said it quickly and he almost laughed at her tone but kept it to himself. She held on to his arm, he didn't want her to let go so when he bent down to select the nicest Stargazer Lily he could find, he bent across her, their faces were so close he could almost feel her breath on his cheek. Silently pleased that she further hooked her arms with his again. He lingered there when he handed the flower to her, so thankful it was too hot for white gloves when their fingers brushed and it was like the sensory nerves in his skin exploded upon contact. Their eyes met, and Kunzite was painfully aware of how close the back of her hand came to brushing his chest with the hand that held the flower. He stood up straight as slowly as he could manage without looking odd before he could drown in her scent.

"Nephrite is next in command to myself, this is his garden. The previous one was Zoisite's, adviser to the royal family." Venus seemed to ponder something for a minute, a gleam hitting her eye and she giggled again. He glanced down at her with a raised brow but she only stared hard at the flower in her fingers.

"What's so amusing Princess?" He couldn't help but smile when she glanced up at him. Her eyes widened slightly but her smile did not fade.

"Nothing General, just thinking is all." She replied simply but looked away quickly to the flower she held with a delicate hand. Kunzite was pleased that they were talking so casually, finally about anything that didn't involve their unruly Prince and Princess.

"Do share so that I might have a laugh as well? I'm afraid laughter has been hard to come by these days." He grinned when Venus nudged him playfully with the sexiest smirk he'd ever seen on a pair of lips.

"I didn't think you dared do such a thing as laugh General, you're always so serious." His smile broadened, amused she could confirm his otherwise uncouth demeanor. Kunzite was a little surprised when she flushed an appealing pink shade, never tearing her eyes away from his.

"Of course I laugh. I'm known to do that, and many other things that might surprise you Princess." The lily twirled in her fingers as playfully as their conversation was going, he almost stopped breathing when she leaned against his arm as they strolled so casually. "Well...I suppose it's not a trait I'm known for."

"Consider my curiosity piqued General, do elaborate." She was biting her lower lip in that all too appealing way again, sneaking a sideways look up at him through the gold fringe of her hair. He kept his eyes forward, pretending he didn't see her pretty blue eye peek up at him.

"Oh you know... rescue distraught kittens from trees, save little children from runaway carriages... occasionally I even take a days rest from my duties." He knew there was a wicked gleam in his eye, the wolfish grin on his lips spreading when she gasped dramatically before laughing lightly.

"Something tells me you're omitting a lot of information General, pardon my skepticism." He chuckled lightly, suddenly a little squeamish about what she really might know. Kunzite held a curtain of ivy aside, allowing her to step through it and into Jadeite's more traditional gardens to his lands. Venus took a few moments silence to gaze around in wonder as she did with each garden, and he fell captive to her wonder of it all. Things he saw every day had become mundane and normal made beautiful again with her enraptured and frenzied appreciation for her surroundings.

She paused, pulling him gently to lean against the railing of a bridge overlooking one of the many Koi filled ponds, her arm never breaking from his. He almost wanted to brush the hair from her shoulder, the moment too good, too perfect. One of those moments that were she a normal girl he might have kissed her. Instead he leaned against the railing beside her, leaning against her arm the same as she leaned on him.

"You seem to know something, I'm curious about your theories." His lips twitched, knowing curiosity was a dangerous thing under most circumstances, this was no exception.

What about your brutish reputations? Your armies are well known even to the Alliance and yet you seem to be the cause and symptom of your soldier's pains. Not to mention your scandalous reputation with women? I understand harsh training regimens but are you so harsh with women that they describe you as barbaric?" Kunzite deflated, his head falling forward in defeat of the Venusian's very forward wording. He half whimpered, half laughed to himself before he allowed his eyes to shift over his shoulder to her rather amused blue ones.

"And where pray tell are you getting such stories from? Not exactly conversation a Princess should be having." He stood straight, watching her silent appraisal of him with a deep exhale.

"Your Prince is a vicious gossip and my Princess is no better." Her smile was brilliant and all too amused when she gazed back up toward him. Kunzite could only shake his head, raking his free hand through the length of his hair to tame some of the strands. "And I am more soldier than Princess, General, I do not place limits on the topics I can discuss."

"Your blunt tongue tonight suggested as much. I fear anything I admit to may be used against me." His smile took her off guard, only made clear by her flush and sudden readiness to continue their walk with a light tug on his arm. "You should know, when you lead the worlds armies you must be a brute to an extent. It is only to make my men better." Venus glanced at him and nodded. She commanded the Galaxy after all.

"Of course I understand this, though I'm more curious about the women." Her brow raised, her gaze fixed ahead smugly. A smugness which he returned in the devilish smirk on his face, almost arrogant in nature. Somehow she bolstered his confidence, he didn't feel the need to hide himself so much or he couldn't help it. Venus was an infectious creature if he'd ever met one. The very nature of their conversation turning into something far more interesting to him than the rather concerning topics of earlier.

"The same could be said of the women of course." She was nibbling on her lip again when her elbow nudged his ribs.

"Brute." Venus commented shortly through a betraying smile. They both laughed, he hadn't felt so light in a long time. Speaking to her was like speaking to an old friend, although flirtatious in nature. Kunzite was almost sorry for how he mistrusted them, knowing well in his gut he'd be a fool to drop his guard so quickly. It had been so horribly long since he truly enjoyed the company of a woman without agenda. But Venus was special, her kindness almost enough to make him believe in love in ways he hadn't before. Her regard for his late Queen, the dire lengths she was willing to go to for her Princess and most of all his Prince. It was humbling to see from someone with such Goddess like power. Power that she hadn't flaunted, it was easy to forget she possessed it in conversation alone.

They finally came to the gates of his garden, the only silver ones, ornate and suited to him. The air became familiarly fragrant to him, the gentle sound of the ocean mingling with the breeze that picked up by their proximity to the shores, taking on a fresher quality. His gardens truly did suit him, monochromatic with all white flowers and stone made regal with carvings relevant to his home lands. The only difference was Aphrodite's statue in the very center, a newer one he'd had commissioned recently. He knew it was no representation of the girl at his side, she was a divine thing where the other soldiers under her were not and so she was Aphrodite, and she was also someone else entirely. Her arm slipped from his at the sight of the statue, stepping forward and away from him so he could see her so much clearer without the burden of shadows.

"I really do want to thank you." His face had fallen from their previous conversation and the nervous look on her face made him regret saying the words, but he knew without a doubt they needed to be said. "Endymion has been beside himself, first when Serenity stopped visiting him he became withdrawn.. then the Queen died..neither myself or my men have been able to bring any life back to him. You've brought him light no one else could." Venus's face turned almost as red as the thick ribbon in her hair, face tilted down to the flower in her hands.

"It does not change the fact that their love is forbidden..." Her voice was nearly a whisper, sad as he suspected a Goddess of Love might be when the person she loves above all is in love with someone she by all purposes couldn't be with. Not truly anyways.

"No more forbidden than us here... having this conversation right now." The realization hit him as the words left his mouth. He appraised her again, her full pouty lips, utterly perfect skin, how long her lashes were when they drifted over her stunning eyes, the curves and valleys of her body beneath the silk gown she wore, the bead of sweat that drifted to the gentle curve of her ample breasts so achingly slow. Kunzite wondered if he would be able to turn back after tonight. They had spoken but he didn't know her still. What she loved outside the line of duty, if she had hobbies, what her favorite food was, if she had a true name.

This notion struck him harder than anything as they stepped into his gardens all fragrant and white. Surely Venus wasn't her real name. He tried to imagine what her name could be, what would Aphrodite name her daughter who's beauty seemed to challenge everything she encountered, her every word, thought and action. Kunzite was brought out of his thoughts by the straightening of her posture. She was regarding the statue of her mother with awestruck wide eyes. He felt the absence of her arm on his, watching as she nearly floating over to the massive white statue of Aphrodite holding the gold pearl that seemed to haunt him triumphantly over her head.

Kunzite walked slowly toward her, standing directly behind the young Goddess. The floral scent of her hair overpowered his senses, he didn't even notice the gardens around them, it was only her. He wasn't surprised, her presence was the Sun in the middle of the night, commanding and impossible to ignore, warming and welcome.

"Terrans hate us so much... why do they carve such beautiful images of us?" He wasn't sure he was meant to hear her words, but of course he did, he stood directly behind her.

"Terrans don't hate you... they fear you. They long for your power, your gifts. They worship you and beg for you to bless our lives. They pray to you most of all Venus." She was leaning back against him suddenly, the top of her head coming just above the center of his chest. Her every curve seemed to mold to his form so perfectly. Gods he wanted to wrap his arms around her. Kunzite bent slightly, bringing his lips closer to the shell of her ear. "This is called Aphrodite's Victory."

"These gardens are yours." Her voice was a slight on the light breeze, the ocean spreading its fresh and salty scent to mingle with the lilies and various florals in his garden.

"They are." The tension seemed to increase between them. His body ached from the self restraint he was often so proud of. There were many factors as to why he wanted to gather the girl in his arms and he predicted that more than half of them were not exactly honorable or conducive to their situation. After all, he didn't love her.

"I'm no idol to be worshiped. I've proven myself destined to fail no matter how hard I try. I wanted to be good... strong...absolute in my duties and oaths. I wanted to prevent their love from becoming unstoppable so that no one had to risk everything to keep it sacred. I'm not sorry that I failed in this, only that I wasn't strong enough to stop it entirely..." Kunzite had felt her tense against his chest, he couldn't tell if it was because his body betrayed him and he rest his hands gently on the velvet skin of her arms or if she'd realized she was leaning against his chest. She walked away suddenly without another word, heading up the stairs toward the terrace that held such a spectacular view, high on Elysian's cliffs of the vast ocean.

He followed her of course, and it was almost like the scene from his dream when he first found her. Of course her dress was different and hardly see through enough, but the way the wind seemed to gently float her hair and silk gown around her was enchanting, she didn't even seem real. Kunzite came up beside her, leaning on his elbows against the railing to peer down at the turbulence of the waves below them. A rather adequate depiction of his insides churning against themselves. If anything he was grateful for the fresh cooler air that left the lingering salt of the sea on his lips. Venus seemed disturbed, he could sometimes see the weight in her eyes and right now they were far away and strained.

"We are both failures then. They fell in love at first sight and neither of us were there to stop it." She smiled over at him briefly, Kunzite only wanted to ease her burden some. Let her know that they were in this mess together. It was true, and it stung him at the same time. That alarm was always ringing near her- She shouldn't be here.

"This is not your failure to carry... she came here of her own accord and there was nothing you could do." They smiled at each other then, and he didn't want to argue, but there was no way he would let her take the blame for this. "I should have been better..." He fell enchanted for a moment when she shifted, leaning her back against the railing and turning away from the raging sea below to stare at the path they came from. Kunzite slid forward on the railing to be closer, his body betraying him completely and his hand brushed some of her hair from her face. Her lips were intimately close when she turned her head to look at him, both struggling to hold the others eyes when they clearly wanted lips instead. "I didn't peg you as a man who believes in things such as love at first sight."

"As I mentioned Princess... there are a great many things about me that might surprise you." He further turned into her, voice weakened in a whisper that fought the waves crashing below them. "As the Knight of Purity and Affection I have been placed under Aphrodite's favor...I do not believe in love at first sight, but I do believe that the soul knows its place, and the heart wants what it wants. Love is not a place a man like myself believes in."

"The pure white flowers of your gardens make sense now... they're very beautiful. I think I like your gardens most of all." Her voice was nearly muffled by the waves below but he was close enough for her breath to mingle with his, he heard her perfectly. She'd shifted to face him more, his hand came up to move her thick curtain of long hair back behind her shoulder so that he could see her unflawed skin better, the press of her chest against the bodice of her gown was exquisite and he allowed his fingers to lightly trace the length of her arm.

"My gardens pale in comparison now that you have graced them." She took another step into him, Kunzite thought his heart my escape his throat. They'd never been so close and he failed to hold her eyes for long, so taken by the soft contours of her lips and he felt this ache in his chest, breathless.

"What if I am more like the sea?" He felt her press against his shoulder, his body was reeling she was so intimately close he could kiss her with the slightest movement of his head. And yet he restrained. Denial repeating itself in his head with their every slight movement. The word 'Forbidden' echoing with every thud of his heart in his ears.

"I would say the sea does not compare." He kept taking in her face, doing his best to memorize every adorable freckle and eyelash before meeting her eyes again that were sometimes too intense to look at for long but he managed. "Surely Venus isn't your real name..." That urge took over, almost stronger than his urge to claim her lips, her body, her mind, whatever she'd allow him to have. Everything he'd promised he wouldn't fall victim to.

"No... it isn't." Venus admitted, they drifted ever so slightly closer and he was glad she seemed to struggle as much as he did, and pained that they even had to struggle, to dance around this. He was so wrapped up in her in this moment he couldn't care. All he cared about was that simple word, her name.

"May I know it?... Your real name?" His fingers bravely traced her jaw line, almost pulling and urging her lips to his with a siren call of his own. She gasped suddenly, turning back to face the water and leaving him there with his brain swimming until he could regain his composure enough to stand up straight.

"It's not important General.." She turned again to face the path they came from, it was clear by her shaking hands she was as rattled as he was. He saw the struggle, the war playing out in her eyes. Part of him was grateful that she was strong, strong enough to fight whatever just conspired between them because Kunzite found himself confused. He felt something, longing and aching, wonderful and horrible at the same time. The beat between them was silent and long before she offered a weak attempt at a smile, her eyes sad and haunted like a painting when she stepped away from the railing. "It's getting late, we should get back." Her smile was nervous and she headed back toward Endymion's garden to retrieve her Princess. The walk back was anything but comfortable.

He'd given her an agreeing nod, it was in fact getting late. They'd walked far slower than he anticipated, taken more time than they should have in walking through the four gardens. Kunzite made note he didn't show her most of the things within them he planned on. Too caught up in conversation, wrapped up in her, to even think about it. This would be about the time he'd let anger take over, but it didn't come. Of course it took no time to get back, undistracted by each other or the gardens, and before she could walk back into Endymion's courtyard Kunzite found himself reaching for her arm. It stopped her dead in her tracks, Venus turned wide eyed to address him and to him it was a breath of fresh air just to touch her skin again.

"Thank you." He whispered softly, leaving it at that because he had so many things to thank this girl for. Kunzite took her hand, pressing the softest kiss to her knuckle. His grey eyes had yet to release her blue ones, her bottom lip being pulled between her teeth again. No more words passed between them before she simply turned and entered the courtyard just in time for Endymion and Serenity to come rushing back, thinking they had taken too much time themselves. He offered a polite bow goodnight, slinking back into Zoisite's garden to wait for their departure because there was no way Kunzite would let Endymion slip away from him without a word.

Endymion eyed Kunzite when the girls teleported away in their flash of magic and he was still reeling by the tight chord that had strung between them. He pulled the Prince into a tight hug, and he couldn't bring himself to feel bad about the way they embraced fro longer than perhaps a man should embrace another. It wasn't like he hadn't before. The two went down to the kitchen, sitting on stools and eating cheese and bread, talking and sipping water until the head of the kitchen staff came down to do her early prep work and kicked the two men out.

Morning was in full swing, streaming light through the tall windows and when Kunzite entered his library with Endymion at his side. The other Shitennou looked up with lively and happy eyes at the sight of their bright eyed dark Prince. Needless to say a clumsy dog pile occurred and the Shitennou gave Endymion noogies, wet willies and poked at him with howls of laughter as he was pinned underneath their bulky masses. Nephrite even shed a happy tear and Kunzite had never felt more alive in his life, a relief he wouldn't soon forget.

When he finally close himself in his room to sleep, he gazed up at the pale Moon ever present in the sky, ignoring the bright Northern Star he knew to be Venus and he whispered a quiet thank you at the silver planet, knowing that she was up there. Kunzite became plagued by foolish thoughts, wondering if she was maybe gazing down toward Earth. He went back and forth with himself, replaying moments in his head and trying to decide if he was grateful or not things ended the way they did. Regardless he was grateful to her, she had been the Goddess to deliver his first answered prayer in breathing so much life back into his Prince.

Kunzite sighed and drew the curtains to block out the Sun, exhaustion making him feel drunk and delirious as he stumbled toward bed, certain he was going to dream of her. Venus, who turned out to be so disarming, more beautiful in action and spirit and Kunzite was humbled by her good intentions. He felt a pull toward her, telling himself that everyone probably did, he wasn't special, but he decided he would have liked to kiss her. His final betraying thought before sleep claimed him, now if only he knew her name.


	7. Chapter 7

Days passed before his brain had the chance to re-calibrate or process much of what he talked about with Venus, to rationalize away any tiny ounce of why in the days following he actively waited to feel that strange hum of magic that came with her arrival. For better or worse he was good at rationalizing. Kunzite could easily dismiss the hardest of things for some reason or another, whether it was made up or real, and have it sound logical. However, there was far too much about that night that he couldn't just rationalize away.

Kunzite could say the words that she'd played on his emotion for Endymion, that she was perhaps trying to sway him in their direction, that her kindness was some well played act, but for some reason he could not bring himself to believe it. Certainly not that he didn't want to know her name, didn't want to know if her lips were as sweet as he often dreamed they were, or how the way she leaned into their linked arms when they walked simply just wasn't close enough.

Kunzite took these things and buried them deep within himself. He let his emotions get the better of him, let her in far more than he ever should have. He'd catch himself rolling his eyes at his own stupidity, only glad that Serenity's absence didn't seem to be effecting Endymion at all. In fact the Prince appeared rejuvenated, perhaps a little too motivated at times. Trying to reason with Endymion about his affair with the Moon Princess and her presence on their planet seemed to help rebuild some of his own steely resolve even if it always ended up being in vain. Endymion would hear none of it. The King was hardly in his right mind after the Queen's passing and all of the Shitennou were busier than ever, it was not the time for the Prince to be so distracted.

It was roughly five days in that Jadeite said something in passing about the Princess and a Martian that tipped Kunzite off to the fact that there was something going on and potentially scandalous about their new arrangement. Apparently the Princess and only occasionally one of her guard had been there every night going on a week. The icy calmness of Kunzite terrified Jadeite, and rightfully so. They all knew it well when the Commander would grow too calm and appear understanding to the innocent party, knowing there was no saving the guilty one from his wrath. Something Endymion was made privy to the very next morning.

Per his usual routine, Kunzite readied himself for the day with a hard scowl. He didn't even stop for coffee, simply snatched the Prince's agenda from his desk and strode down the hall with heavy footfalls before the sun had even properly broken the horizon. Endymion would be sleeping no doubt, probably up late after another tryst with Serenity that had been kept secret from him. He allowed the heavy wooden door to slam open, jarring Endymion immediately before Kunzite slammed it shut again with a harsh thundering sound that rattled the windows.

"Long night?" He bit, practically crumbling the paper in his hands when he crossed his arms over his chest and tried to kill Endymion with his eyes.

"Kunzite what the Hell..." His voice was groggy, clearly from lack of sleep. Kunzite didn't miss the ridiculous state of his ebony hair, visible but light marks made by nails on his arms and chest and a few bruises on his neck created no doubt by a very appealing set of pouty lips.

"Don't 'what the Hell me,' YOUR HIGHNESS." He tossed the paper to Endymion's desk and began to pace. "She's back A WEEK and you're hiding things from me... worse yet you make my MEN hide things from me. So help me Endymion if you're FUCKING her now I think that's cause for tighter security and don't you DARE get her pregnant..."

"Kunzite..."

"For fucks sake! What are you thinking!? She's the Princess of the entire GALAXY you damned moron, figures somewhere along the line you stopped thinking with your head and more with your co-"

"KUNZITE!" Endymion paused, darker blue eyes set hard, he took a breath before speaking softly. "I love her."

He groaned and raked a hand down his face. He paced, trying to count backwards and control his breathing. His hands were shaking and all he wanted to do was scream. Kunzite's anger was something legendary, though typically controlled of course it was so rare now that he let it get the best of him. Did Endymion not know the power this girl's Mother held in the palm of her hand? The danger of it all... he thought he might actually punch his Prince but remained only just calm enough to keep the clenched fist at his side. It was no secret, least of all to him, that Endymion loved her. He knew this since the day he found Venus in their gardens, or maybe that night Serenity had so bluntly asked him if he had Lunar blood in him because of his hair and eye color.

Kunzite might have smiled at the memory if his blood wasn't boiling over. She'd sat so close beside him on the fountain, running a hand boldy through his silver hair in comparison of her own. A rather inappropriate action for a Princess but he didn't say a word, just allowed his jealous to Prince to warn her not to waste her attentions on him because he didn't speak more than three words at a time. Kunzite almost had a mind to to be embarrassed when Serenity called him beautiful, he hadn't known what to say in the moment so he only proved his Prince right by responding with a dry 'Thank you.'

It was easy to see why Endymion could fall so hard for her, Serenity was something very special. A unique soul for her status and probably the sweetest person Kunzite had ever met, completely adorable in her childlike curiosity and awe of their world. It didn't help that his Prince openly accepted and welcomed the ideals of a Venusian soulmate, an absolute kind of love, let alone love in general. It was only suited to a Prince in this sort of Kingdom. One responsible for bearing heirs and keeping the bloodline secured as well as the legendary Kingdom that ruled their world. Had he not loved Endymion the way he did, feared for his safety and the very sanctity of their world, he might have reacted even poorer than he was currently. Kunzite truly felt he was the only person taking this as seriously as it needed to be handled. Serenity could not be the one to bear Endymion's hiers, she could not be his bride, and by the time whatever plans the Venusian had in mind took place, he and his men would be dead, taken by old age or worse.

"You care so little about the risks I take... the risks my men take and have the audacity to ask them to hide this? As your Guardian do you trust me so little to ensure your safety, and hers? Yes...I would advise against such physical unions until better stances are made but you make a fool of me and a mockery of your people." The two men glared at each other, Endymion frowned and Kunzite fell defeated beneath it. "You know they think the Moon spies on us? Fear their magics so much that hey look to them as Gods instead of equals?" Kunzite sighed, exasperated and defeated. "Maybe they have a right to fear them, to fear us in the end."

"You know that's not true." Endymion rubbed his eyes, either out of grogginess or frustration, Kunzite was passed caring, sighing with enough of that frustration for both of them.

"What will you do to show your people this? You do know there are whole Kingdoms outside of Elysium don't you? My people... Nephrite's, Zoisite's, and Jadeite's people. All of them are blind to what truly lies beyond our atmosphere... and it is them you will have to answer to."

He stormed from the room, not bothering to slam the door shut again behind him when the Prince's eyes filled with emotion, no doubt prepared to make some valiant speech about love and how it would bind their worlds together. Kunzite knew Endymion would probably not be far behind him when he plopped heavily into his desk chair, knowing this conversation was far over he decided coffee was the only solution for the foggy rage he was swimming under. He swore he heard her voice as he leaned against the dark surface of his desk pinching the bridge of his nose with his first cup in hand.

'When you love someone... that's worth everything.'

Kunzite scoffed, remembering Zara's words as well.

"A silent predator indeed..." He muttered to no one, peering over at the sad blue eyes of the girl in his painting.

Kunzite was hardly through his first cup of coffee, still early when Endymion slunk into the library with his tail between his legs. He barely looked up from the documents in front of him, so close to resolving the issues between his and Nephrite's lands as well as some trade issue in another country under his realm. His steely stare was unamused when Endymion poured himself a cup of coffee and took a seat in the chair across from him, expression a familiar sheepish one Kunzite recognized from when he was younger.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you." He muttered, taking a careful drink of the hot bitter fluid in his mug. Kunzite exhaled slowly through his nose, setting his own cup down without shifting his eyes.

"As am I." Despite the shortness of his words, there were no shortage of curses running through his head. Deep slow breaths were all he could do from continuing to rant and rave at Endymion as he had earlier that morning. "I'm even more sorry that you swore even my own men to silence." Kunzite watched him visibly wince beneath his stare, deepening his frown in accordance to his next words. "So what am I to do now that I look like a fool to my inferiors? The very men I command due to the actions of the man I am supposed to guide and protect?" Endymion's eyes flashed with anger for a moment, but knew he had no place to be mad- Kunzite was very right in this instance.

"I thought merely enacting the plans you put in place would be enough. It's not like you parade around the palace announcing your conquests...Serenity is no conquest mind you, I mean it when I say that I love her. You've been taking more shifts lately, I thought you could use a break and things just sort of happened. Jadeite and Nephrite have guarded...I didn't think you needed to be alerted every time. Your plans are ironclad as always." Endymion frowned, arrogance taking over his brow. He knew the Prince was a surprisingly private person despite all that charisma, Kunzite could see it was just going to be one of those days that they simply didn't get along, and shifted his eyes back down to the paper he was working on.

"I came because I plan to request audience with Queen Serenity..and I need you and Zoisite to accompany me." Kunzite dropped the pen he wrote with, his eyes snapping up Endymion again almost white with fury. Ignoring him, the Prince took a blank parchment and a pen from beside the General who was clenching his fist on the desk with white knuckles.

"You may be my Liege, but you have the audacity to ask such a thing of me?"

"You have the audacity to disobey me? You may be a king of your own lands, but I assure you Kunzite these are not your lands." Endymion's shoulders sagged with a heavy regretful sigh at Kunzite's widening eyes. "Look I'm sorry...I'm nervous and I don't mean to be an asshole. My family and I have been requesting this audience for generations. I've already sent multiple letters over the weeks...each denied. It will work if I remain persistent, but I'll need you by my side on this. I certainly don't mean what I said, I look at these lands as yours as they are mine..."

"Throwing your title at me is no way to maintain my allegiance. I have given all to you without question and asked for nothing. Obeying every order and following this destiny that is to come with being one of the Heavenly Four, and I thought I had done so as a friend more than Guardian. This is not the King you are to become. I had thought your Mother taught you this." Endymion cringed, when Kunzite was right, he was damn right, and the General was currently on a roll this morning. The younger Prince often forgot that each of The Four had already served as Kings themselves, and all he knew was lessons taught from his parents and the Middle Eastern King in front of him. Kunzite still held that air of one, even if he was now reduced to a soldier, rank made higher than King only because he was one of The Four.

"I'm sorry.. you know I don't mean anything by it. I tend to lash out when I'm afraid... you know that best of all." Endymion muttered. Even then Kunzite had to envy his ability to express emotion, taking solace in the fact he'd never admit that to anyone else but him. He'd tried to teach Endymion the effects of showing weaknesses such as fear and letting it rule his emotions at an earlier age, it sadly never stuck and so he was left to often remind the Prince that it's how wars were often started. Fear was potent, and their humble little planet was full of fearstruck, innocent people who often acted foolish because of it. Kunzite sighed again, unable to stay angry at Endymion for long. He didn't regret his love for the younger Prince, but it was a constant reminder that love makes people weak.

"Endymion... you know you're forgiven. You are jumping into allegiances with the Silver Millennium after a few meetings with the Princess. Am I wrong to assume her lips have anything to do with this?" Kunzite raised a brow, sitting back in his chair and abandoning the document he was working on. Endymion was already drafting a letter, a slow blush rising on his cheeks.

"Her lips may have swayed my decision but her ideals solidified them. I think you know it's been a goal of mine for far longer than I've known her to better our relations with the Moon. If I am to be with her, then I need to do what is necessary. It needs to happen anyway and my Father is in no place to aid us." He muttered as the pen elegantly scrawled across the paper. "I don't know what it is Kunzite," He stopped writing and looked up at the General with a look that made his eyes want to roll from their sockets. "She sees such good and purity in everything. She makes everything so light and wonderful..."

"That is called naivety." Kunzite put simply. "She knows nothing of our world other than what is written in their books. Hell she knows nothing outside the walls of her own kingdom." He frowned and knew Endymion would defend her. He silently almost wished he'd go away- it was far too early for this and he needed to soothe some of the rage still creating that uncomfortable tension in his chest. Perhaps that was all this love talk causing him such unease.

"She knows more than she lets on Kunzite. I love her, I know you've never been in love but perhaps some day you'll meet someone you'd do anything for." Endymion grinned, and Kunzite really did roll his eyes this time, falling back to the paper in front of him without reading a word of it. He swallowed hard to keep a distracting notion from choking him. "Just you wait until the right woman comes along. You'll understand in time."

"Not going to happen." Kunzite frowned, "even if it does, some of us don't have the luxury. I'm choosing to look at the political side of this- and while you have my blessing, don't be surprised when your request is declined. Though it seems like it's too late for Queen Serenity to save her daughter's chastity. I hope she isn't promised for marriage, you would have robbed her husband the honor." Endymion flushed and shot him a look when he reached for an envelope.

"What are you doing up so early today anyway? Isn't today your day off?" Endymion folded the letter and set it in a tray for a servant to take for delivery along with various other documents Kunzite had been working on.

"It is, but I still have a whole Kingdom to tend to you realize. A Kingdom currently trying to decimate Nephrite's lands." Endymion nodded with a slight frown. He stood, heading for the door with a backward glance toward Kunzite who seemed to be distracted, twirling his pen in his fingers, grey eyes fixed with intensity on it.

"I am sorry Kunzite." Endymion spoke softly, his grey eyes lifting to the dark haired Prince he'd been so loyal to. They had been so close once, Kunzite feeling a small rift opening between them as of late with the budding forbidden romance he was so entangled with. Not to say they weren't close, Endymion really was sorry. He knew how badly he acted out when he was afraid, it was sometimes hard for him not to take it personally when it involved such dangerous terrain. "I promise I will find a way to make this better for everyone...to show our people that they are safe. Made safer still with our union to the Alliance."

"I know." He responded, lips quirking in a gentle smile he rarely offered anyone. Something genuine he could give Endymion and know he was forgiven. It didn't stop the varying thoughts that swam through his mind each letter he sent the Moon Queen. What if it WAS accepted one day? "Sneak a drink later?"

"After today I'm certain to need it. I owe you one anyway." Endymion's smile was infectious, he grabbed an apple from the fruit laid out on the sideboard, tossing Kunzite an orange.

"I won't argue that." He frowned down at the piece of fruit in his hand, something left ignored by the Prince. The light citrus smell of the fruit hit him as he knew it would, and he thought of sunlight. Kunzite thought of her smile.

"It's going to be a hot one today, try and not work too hard you should enjoy it." Endymion fussed with his armor slightly, a bead of sweat already sliding down his neck. "I think it's time to ditch the armor, I'll see you later." He stood already unclasping his chestplate as he left the room. Kunzite frowned at the letter, knowing this would set in motion something. Something extremely exciting and beneficial, or the beginning of the end. Kunzite hoped his requests would remain denied, that he could gain some modicum of control over the situation.

Kunzite decided to heed Endymion's word for once, it was indeed a hot one. He soaked it into his skin, basked in it where it would burden most others. He unbuttoned the thin linen shirt he wore on his way to the lake he so loved to swim in on days like this. It was silent by this lake and he could be free from the worries of his troubled King, wayward Prince, and gold Goddesses that liked to haunt his mind as he tried to make sense of her. Kunzite stopped drinking so much after his three mile hike to the temples and uncomfortable interaction with Beryl who seemed to linger around the palace more even after Endymion stopped entertaining her so much. He brought a bottle with him regardless, taking a long drink before he stripped down to constricting training shorts to go for a long swim.

Kunzite sprawled beneath the solitary tree, watching the grass blow in the humid breeze and the sky open up gradually to the stars. Half the bottle was gone by the time he dried enough to dress again, leaving his shirt open he chuckled to himself. Jadeite had been teasing him for the lack of women he'd been entertaining as well as the lack of his presence at their favorite taverns. His appetite for women hadn't changed, he appreciated their beauty but found himself comparing them, as if there were a comparison to her.

It was a stupid thing to do, the women were still beautiful and it had little to do with the unearthly appearance of Venus, but the manner in which she carried herself. She was wild and graceful and commanding all at once, a kind of freedom he'd never known before yet she carried so much weight. So much sadness behind her eyes that he felt like she might be some walking paradox he'd never figure out.

Other women only seemed to lust after his appearance, the status he could potentially provide them. They cared nothing for his devotion to Endymion, the love of his fellow Shitennou, and the Kingdom he protected. Kunzite could count on one hand the times he'd met Venus and she'd shown him respect, as well as devoted care for his Prince no doubt brought on by her love for Serenity. Of all the beings of Heaven and Earth, it was Venus that understood him where the idea of her, the idea of love still fell so short of his own understanding.

Venus clearly thought he didn't see, but after their long walk through the gardens, she took a simple gold ring from her finger and left it at the base of the Queen's statue, an offering like the Terrans that left her such gifts at her own fountain in the temples. The grounds keepers would have taken it to either sell or accidentally discard when the tended their private gardens and so Kunzite selfishly kept the ring. It was in the top drawer of his nightstand, locked with a few other precious items from the Middle East that he held as sentimental. He rarely opened it, but that act of tribute still touched him even now. That one of those Goddesses would regard a Terran Queen so highly as to leave such a priceless trinket in offering.

Kunzite's eyes began to drift shut, the hot breeze against his skin and drying hair, the lulling sound of cicadas and crickets lulling his exhaustion to take hold and pull him to sleep. His name being called in the near distance jarred him, heaving a tired and defeated sigh when he stood slowly in time to see Zoisite running toward him, his strawberry blonde curls bouncing wildly against his back. He should have known better than to think he'd be allowed a moments rest.

"Kunzite!" The mild tone of panic in his voice had him taking a few hurried steps toward the younger soldier, scrambling to strap his sword belt back onto his hip and step into his boots. "You're needed in Endymion's gardens, the Princess has a guard with her and Jadeite thinks she might harm him. He's there now, hurry!" Kunzite barely let Zoi finish his sentence before he was flying toward the gardens leaving him behind with wide green eyes. No one had ever seen Kunzite spring to action with promise of a true threat. Training was different, and for his larger size he was extremely agile and fast..

Zoisite was nearly right behind him of course, but he wasn't bound to wait. Kunzite didn't really think one of Serenity's guard would hurt Endymion, but given their current status and the escalation of his relationship with Serenity he couldn't be sure. When it came to Endymion's safety, Kunzite left nothing to chance. He was silent as ever in his approach over the familiar stone walkways, through the ivy laced entry to the courtyard of roses. Methodical so he could assess the situation before approaching it, hand readied on his sword.

Jadeite was standing off to the side of Venus and Endymion, his sword drawn and pointed at the long and graceful neck of the Venusian. Her gloved hand rest gently at Endymion's chest, and while he knew Venus to some extent, he couldn't be sure that she wasn't angry at his Prince for soiling her Princess with Terran hands. He remembered all too well the reports of those smiting beams she could summon from her fingertips and swallowed hard. A painful reminder how powerless he would be against a being like her, and seeing her again he knew he was already so powerless against her very presence.

Endymion gestured for probably the third or fourth time for Jadeite to stand down, and the situation seemed to unravel itself when Jadeite made a lewd pass at Venus and lowered his sword slowly. Kunzite rolled his eyes, he was almost proud of the Eastern King for standing his ground until he opened that mouth of his, and took advantage of the fact that no one else knew he was there yet. Endymion seemed to see him, and there was even the slightest bit of a smirk on Venus' lips suggesting she knew he was there as well. Her poker face was little to be desired and maybe the cutest thing he'd seen of her yet.

"Is there trouble Endymion?" Kunzite stepped from his shadowed hiding spot in a swift step, the sound of his commanding voice directly behind him making Jadeite jump out of his skin, turning toward him with wide blue eyes. He was only glad the younger man had sheathed his sword first because crass as the man was, Jadeite was a capable fighter.

"Dammit Kunzite you scared the shit out of me! Where the fuck did you come from anyway!?" Kunzite glared daggers at his Soldier and Jadeite mumbled a half assed apology about his language in front of Princesses. Serenity laughed as though she watched a funny play, springing to her feet she almost skipped over him to wrap her arms around his waist in a friendly hug that seemed to shock Jadeite and Zoisite who joined behind him. He noticed as Serenity released him to rejoin Endymion's side that the other two Shitennou were as enraptured by Venus as he was, standing beneath the direct light of the Moon in that short orange and white uniform. It was assumed they'd already met Serenity since she had been there so often as of late, probably already used to the girl's carefree way.

He took his place on his usual bench, seeking to tame the no doubt wild state of his hair in the presence of Goddesses regardless of how often he'd seen them. Kunzite hadn't seen Venus in many days, no doubt a result of the reports Zoi showed him in regards to her taking out at least a dozen intergalactic rebels on her own. The girl stayed busy for certain though it was so hard for him to see how much power she truly held in her petite frame, how such a hardened warrior appeared so light when she smiled and every movement she made was like part of a dance. He knew she'd been injured though you'd never know it now, her skin unflawed and luminous, body perfect if he'd ever seen perfection before. Kunzite didn't realize he had been staring, silently appraising her until their eyes met and she tore her gaze from his with a quickness.

Zoi was at least polite and introduced himself to the Venusian. The fascination held in his green eyes was almost amusing, the way he studied her in a clinical way Lepidopterists study butterflies and moths. She was as proper and diplomatic as he was, seeming relieved that Zoisite was a proper gentleman outside of his blatant staring that only someone like herself would be used to. Kunzite could see by the way he nervously rubbed the back of his own neck that he was overwhelmed by Venus and the Moon Princess simultaneously, and excused himself as he still had work to finish anyway, like Zoi ever stopped.

It was no surprise to him that Jadeite lingered probably too close to the Venusian with a hunger in his blue eyes, unmasked captivation that Kunzite himself had almost fallen to. Humorous to him because it had been Jadeite to start that fight between himself and Endymion with some lewd comment about how Martians might not be so bad after all. An accidental slip of tongue that one of the times Serenity had come to visit she brought a different guard with her, one with killer legs and worse temper. It was nearly impossible for Kunzite to keep an eye on Serenity and Endymion who were talking quietly with suggesting smiles, and Jadeite with Venus who he noted had a particularly deviant glint in her eye simultaneously.

Her lips were turned in a 'come hither' smirk that quickened his pulse and sought to devastate even him. Venus removed her gloves in a few sauntering steps toward Jadeite, all the while removing her long white gloves, draping them from a chain that clung to her absolutely hypnotic swaying hips. He watched Jadeite's entire body go rigid, refusing to explore the thought of anything below his waist that came to attention as well but the fire in his eyes so fixed on Venus, made him sick.

Kunzite's fist tightened at his side the more intimately she sidled up to Jadeite, running a hand through his careless blonde waves. He wanted to look away, but her eyes shifted to him with a knowing smirk when she kissed his soldier's cheek and he just couldn't. There was a hint of lust in those hooded blue eyes when they met his grey and Kunzite felt like a voyeur of sorts as she payed such attentions to another man, and yet she looked to him. Jadeite was left speechless of course, never having the courtesy to blush a day in his life, his cheeks turned a particular shade of deep crimson. Kunzite exhaled slowly through his nose when she stepped away from the other man slowly, trying to ease whatever beginnings of arousal she had instigated in himself with that mere look that stole the breath from his lungs and set his blood rushing. He could FEEL the heat in her eyes, feel the warm lust of her charms. Jadeite on the other hand, could do little to hide his own misery and Kunzite did not envy him.

"Thank you for being gracious enough to know that I'd never harm your Prince." Venus' long lashes fluttered just slightly and that fools grin began to spread over Jadeite's features with the light purr of her voice. Kunzite tried looking anywhere but at her when she glanced at him again, his brow was troubled but otherwise he did well to keep his expression solemn. He recognized it for what it was in that glance, payback for his sword at her throat. Kunzite could see, and feel, in that moment how her charms were far deadlier.

The next moments happened quite simultaneously, and very fast. While Kunzite, Jadeite, and Venus seemed to be locked in some quasi erotic standoff, Serenity and Endymion took it upon themselves to rush into the garden doors that lead into the castle, and directly to the Prince's rooms while they remained distracted. The very moment the door shut, Venus dropped whatever seductive facade she was wielding against his soldier and rushed forward to try and stop the royals before they could lock her out and failed miserably. As the Venusian moved away from the fountain to try and stop this, Jadeite made the move to try and wrap her in his arms with a devilish grin turned surprised as he fell into the cold waters of the fountain beside them, fumbling over his own boots. She was already feet away and pounding at the door, ready to bust it down when a light ward appeared on the carved wood with the Moon Kingdom's seal on it. It was all rather hilarious, like some scene in a Grecian comedy. Kunzite stifled his laughter into his palm, peering down at Jadeite in amusement while he sat in the fountain with a grim expression.

"Serves you right, if you're going to make it through your shift you needed to cool down anyway. I thought your trousers might bust a seam." Kunzite bit between amused chuckles. Jadeite stood slowly, giving him his 'You have no idea' expression and proceeded to stare at Venus like a starved beggar. She was too busy trying to use her own magic to break the ward, and being quite unsuccessful to notice his soldier's stare. "Jadeite, I think it's time for you to finish your rounds. I'll see to our guest."

Kunzite crossed his arms, issuing a cold glare in response to Jadeite's rather pained expression while he dragged himself sopping wet from the fountain. Day off or not, the Commander issued an order that the Eastern King was unable to disobey. Venus was not immune to Jadeite's wicked schemes however, taking advantage of the sopping wet, dripping mess that he was. His grey eyes widened, watching as the he pulled her into his completely drenched uniform and kissed her. It was the lightest, shortest brushes of lips that made her giggle in a rather flirtatious manner and push Jadeite away with a shake of her head and most brilliant smile.

Joke was on both men as she stepped away. Kunzite thought his nose might hemorrhage as her white uniform came away rather translucent. He thought Jadeite's eyes might fall out of his head, baffled that she really didn't seem to care how exposed she was when every other woman he knew would have been outraged. Kunzite made note to positively torture Jadeite the next morning in drills and tried to strike him dead with his eyes, subtly shifting to hide the mild agitation of his body.

"My Princess, this isn't the last you'll see of me, in any way, shape, or form." His blue eyes were dark, obviously taking her in the way they shifted over her. Kunzite wasn't sure what to make of it when Jadeite looked up at him and raised his eyebrows suggestively before he walked away. At least having the courtesy to turn his back before he so crudely adjusted the rather obvious state of his pants as he walked away. He could only pinch the bridge of his nose, shutting his eyes to avoid her with a promise that Jadeite would not live to see the next sunset.

"Well I'd say those two will be a while." Her hand gestured lazily toward Endymion's door, her entire demeanor shifting into something more familiar to him, more soldierly. Kunzite tried to avoid looking at her, knowing he would be struck dead by the sight of her though she was not shy about her appraisal of him. He'd completely forgotten his casual state in his rush to get there. Thin white shirt left open, sword belt buckled completely wrong in his haste and he wasn't entirely sure his pants were laced properly though he thanked whatever Gods held him in good graces he wore those training shorts to confine whatever Hell Venus just brought down upon his body and mind. Kunzite opened his mouth to apologize for Jadeite's crude behavior but she caught his eye with the first steps she took toward him, brushing against his arm in passing back toward the fountain. His nails bit into the heel of his palm to ground him from gawking at her in the same manner Jadeite had, the way those blue eyes flickered up at him in passing. "I apologize for ruining your night off, I guess I didn't count on more than one Heavenly King in the gardens tonight."

His blood was burning in his veins, trying to be the gentleman and not stare at her no matter how hard she made it for him not to. Venus plopped down on the edge of the fountain, leaning back on her hands and tipping her head back, exposing her neck and chest to the silver light of the Moon. The ends of her hair floated gold in the water behind her and he wished his painter was present to capture the erotic image she made, his resolve not to stare currently thrown out as soon as he had it. Kunzite had been dead set on maintaining his previous stance, being the silent and indifferent party to her commanding presence and merely keeping his post however, it was too late. Hell he had resolved to be angry with the situation and tension that developed between himself and Endymion. His resolve had broken the moment their eyes met and he could FEEL it.

"I am honored to have the pleasure of your company my Lady. My night's been far from ruined." That tension was thick on the air, his anger forgotten when her head lowered, chin on her shoulder and she looked at him. She seemed tired, the playful facade otherwise faded and yet she smiled anyway. Something about it bothered him and yet looking distracting as she did Venus looked off. A nonsensical mixture of sad, seductive, happy, and tired.

"Are you sure I'm not interrupting one of your brutish rendezvous?" Her eyes sparkled with teasing, lips curling into something of a more convincing smirk that made his throat run dry.

"No...I mean yes, I'm sure. Just the result of someone potentially harming Endymion. I didn't quite have time to make myself decent." She was infectious and he caught his lips quirking right back at her. "I'm sorry if my appearance offends."

"Not in the slightest." Her appraisal of him for a mere few seconds was almost worse than whatever she'd done to Jadeite mere moments ago, her too blue eyes slowly trailing down the length of his body. He tried to think of anything to keep his hormones and lack of said brutal rendezvous from becoming rather apparent to her.

"You're no better Princess. I suppose apologies are in order for Jadeite's behavior." Kunzite tried unsuccessfully not to stare back at her, though she either didn't care or didn't notice.

"Something tells me you aren't sorry." She quipped with a slight tilt of her head, still making no move to hide the state of her uniform which did little to dry in the rampant humidity. "It's all in good fun, isn't it? Besides I believe it was Jadeite to leave quite the impression on my Martian friend."

"Yes, he informed me Serenity has been by a few times. It's no surprise to me that he mentioned her. You'll have to extend apologies to Mars also I assume." Venus waved him off with a hand as if to say 'She'll get over it.' The mingling of their ranks was also a bit of concern to him knowing how charming his comrades were on a normal day, not counting encounters with women too beautiful for their world who were also far more charming themselves.

"The Queen has finally accepted Endymion's request." She bent down to unstrap her shoes, tucking them aside and turning to dip her feet into the fountain. Kunzite told himself he was breathless at her announcement, not because she began to splash and press the cool water onto her shapely legs. A distraction even with the confirmation of one of his greatest concerns. "I thought your Prince might need some guidance, he has the information you should see to it that he heeds it. Queen Serenity is a gracious leader but even she takes risk allowing him an audience in her palace."

"And we have you to thank again." His lips tugged downward some, unable to tear his grey eyes away from her and yet again it felt like she was manipulating this, taking control of the situation from him.

"No. Your Prince has sent in request after request since the Queen passed. When Queen Serenity asked my opinion I merely told her it was worth hearing him out if he is so insistent. She was under no obligation to accept though I'd be lying if I said I didn't think it was in the best interest of our situation." Venus paused, chewing her lip a second. "I merely thought it was smart to equip Endymion with as much information as possible if it's ever going to get anywhere."

"I see." Kunzite swallowed hard, running a hand through the pale silver of his hair to tame it. Once more made aware that he probably looked like he'd just fallen out of bed or worse. Venus rolled her eyes, that familiar annoyance with him peeking through her otherwise flirtatious demeanor.

"I thought we had discussed this. If it's going to happen then we need to take opportunity as it comes. If we fail then we fail completely and that, General, is not an option." He shifted on his feet at the formality and wanted to cringe. Her commanding tone made him feel how the other Shitennou probably felt under his direction and he kind of hated it. Her exasperated sigh caught his attention again as her mood shifted. Again. "Sometimes I think I'm a fool for doing this...we really shouldn't be here. It feels right though... doesn't it?"

"Your Princess says that often. She is here unguarded quite frequently you know, collected by the taller woman with brown hair." Venus exhaled, she'd never see the smallest of his smiles as he tilted his head to try and better see her face from behind a gold curtain of her hair. Kunzite clenched his fist a little tighter when she caught him.

"You've met Jupiter then." Venus replied simply, making his throat constrict when she so casually shifted her hair over one shoulder to allow him a better view while she brought some water to the back of her neck with a cupped hand further saturating her uniform. Kunzite felt certain she did this on purpose, he could feel the sweat begin to trail down his own neck.

"I believe it was Nephrite to meet the Jovian on his watch." Kunzite dared to step closer toward the fountain, her eyes shifting below his chin no doubt to follow the bead of sweat beginning to trail down his chest.

"I hope she didn't cause any trouble." He took another slow step, her eyes tearing away to stare into the fountain's clear water. Kunzite almost had a mind to join her and yet found himself without a brain in his skull with her near him. "I worry Serenity is unattended too often on my nights off. My apologies General, we're still getting used to this new arrangement. I'll have to tighten security."

"She was just unexpected I think. We needed the rain so I suppose we should be thankful." Venus laughed, a smile spreading to her features perhaps at the notion the Jovian warrior had been so nervous she quite accidentally provided them with a rainstorm. Nephrite hadn't been so amused initially, trying to view stars through his telescope when the strange clouds appeared out of nowhere but ended up taking shelter in his gazebo with the Jovian while their Prince and Princess danced in the rain like children. Kunzite wished he could have been there. Almost curious to meet these other Goddesses to see if any held the same fascination for him, a theory he felt almost desperate to explore. If only to provide him some other explanation for the intensity of the draw he felt to Venus.

"So there are four Generals to your Prince as there are four warriors to my Princess? Interesting coincidence don't you think?" Venus sought to kill him, palming water to the front of her neck and top of her chest, furthering the manner in which her uniform became less opaque. He regretted stepping so close to her, clenching his fist he struggled to keep his face from showing anything of the battle he waged, mind over body. Of course when she smirked the way she did Kunzite strongly considered throwing caution and restraint out the window.

"All due respect Venus, I don't think it's wise of us to discuss politics until we are in a better stance." It bit from his lips with a coldness before he could keep himself in check, a further testament that he had to focus a little too hard on restraint of his voice and expression. His logical side told him she was probably fishing for information, though he didn't feel as though she used any magics on him.

"Then tell me something we may discuss in our current stance General." Venus stood slowly, a light hearted if not challenging tone gracing her words. The indication that she used no magic was completely destructive to him the graceful way her leg swung over the ledge of the fountain so she could stand in front of him. Her allure was all natural. Kunzite became sucked into her command, her wandering blue eyes and the sheen of her skin from the water. The moment was getting away from him and he finally found his voice, mentally berating himself when it came out so soft and weak, but the question had been reeling in his mind for days.

"What is your real name?" Sadness flooded her eyes and she almost looked afraid. The confidence she seemed to carry that night slipping away and for the moment Kunzite's desire for her dwindled to a need to simply hold her when her eyes fell downward to her feet. He didn't know who moved closer, but their chests almost touched and his arms moved without his permission to brush the backs of her arms, as though he might urge her closer. She didn't move away from him this time, an appealing flush graced her cheeks when her eyes met his again, blue eyes so flooded with emotion that he couldn't place but wanted to discuss each one in depth so he could figure out this girl and crush the source of her sadness.

"Can you keep a secret?" He could feel her breath against his chest with her whisper, her fingers fidgeting nervously and Kunzite almost longed for her to touch him, to feel that hum of her on his skin. Her eyes didn't quite meet his, but all he needed just then was to know what was so bad about knowing her name. He'd keep any secret she wanted, locking it up tightly away to treasure.

"If that is what you wish." The tenderness in his voice surprised even him, she finally met his eyes and he kept his fingertips light on her arms. He thought he'd kiss her if she'd allow it, erase whatever stain Jadeite had left on her perfect lips and make her his own. It was a frightening notion for a man like him but it was almost like losing himself, and he was a man of control if nothing else. If speaking to her was a crime, would a kiss be a worse offense? Venus bit her lip in thought a moment, plush lips remained parted when she met his eyes again.

"My name is Mi-" There was a loud clash of the door slamming against the wall forcing him to rip his hands away from her, and Venus took a step backwards from him. A bundle of silver blonde hair and white dress collided with Venus, a mischievous laugh filling the air with hurried whispers of needing to return home.

"We must get back! It's sooooooo late! Why didn't you send Kunzie up for me!?" Serenity was dragging her Guardian along for a change, Venus could scarcely grab her shoes on their way toward the gate. Her smile was apologetic when she looked up at him, she appeared as ready to leave as he was ready to suffer her absence. Kunzite smiled in return, a genuine thing he didn't do too often but it was worth the flush on her cheeks. He didn't even cringe at the ever hated nickname Serenity insisted on calling him, he was too busy locking eyes with Venus until they were gone in a flash of gold.

"Fuck..." He muttered, raking a hand through his thick silver locks. Firstly he was never going to hear the end of it from Jadeite whom he owed some awful form of payback. The younger soldier no doubt abandoned his post to deal with his frustrations with the nearest maid. Second he found that he craved her presence which was a dangerous path considering they've had very little conversation outside the realms of their duties. They'd only met a handful of times after all yet Kunzite had already been witness to her command, her caring, and her flirtation. The only thing so consistent with her was her sadness, even when she appeared happy it was hidden in those blue eyes and it was that sadness that haunted him the same as the thought of her name.

Kunzite frowned, turning from the gardens down the familiar rounds the Shitennou took on their night duties, completing them on his night off. The last thing he made note of that evening was that Jadeite was a dead man.


	8. Chapter 8

Endymion emerged from his rooms surprisingly early the next morning for having such a rather eventful night. His blue eyes were lit from within when he plopped down in one of the arm chairs not far from where Kunzite's desk sat. Kunzite on the other hand, did not wake up in such a fortunate mood as his prince having spent his night off brooding while he finished rounds for Jadeite. He was too busy kicking his own ass for being so weak in the presence of a beautiful girl of all things, for letting Venus derail his thoughts and resolve with a wet uniform and a slow show of seduction. Perfect as she may be, her body was anatomically no different than any other woman he'd ever seen, so he told himself. Truly, it wasn't her shallow beauty alone that had a grip on him.

"Looks like we're going to the Moon." Kunzite's eyes raised to Endymion, a dimpled fools grin spread wide on his handsome face while he stared dreamily up at the vaulted ceiling above. "It's really happening Kunzite... we did it!"

"You would do well to be vigilant about the Venusian's advice. Perhaps strive to exceed her expectations." Kunzite cocked a brow, his lips tensed while Endymion only appeared more amused by the light disdain coating the General's tone. "Now that we have the Queen's attention it would be a shame to make fools of ourselves. Zoisite and I are to join you, correct?"

"I can't do this without you." Endymion sat up, raking a hand through his inky hair, face growing more serious with his tone. "You're my best friend, and aside from Zoi you're the best diplomat we have. I'm sure the Queen will be interested in our military, you're the best man I have, I need you Kunz." He winced at the nickname, one of the few his Princess had adopted for him though it seemed like everyone thought they could just call him Kunz when they felt like it. Endymion knew better and he didn't bother to correct him.

"When do we leave?" Kunzite knew better than to argue, he'd be a liar if he said he wasn't at all curious about the prospect of visiting a new world. Endymion shrugged and fell back against the armchair again lazily.

"In a week I assume, the acceptance hasn't been delivered yet. Venus was explaining all this before Jadeite came out of nowhere and tried to kill her." He winced in memory of last night's events, thankful for the reminder as he was needing to head to the training grounds for drills, and Jadeite was about to be issued a world of hurt for his antics. Of course speak of the Devil and he shall appear...

"Hooooooly shit!" Jadeite drawled, throwing the doors to the library open dramatically, falling sideways into one of the overstuffed arm chairs beside Endymion, the others filing in slowly behind. Kunzite was in no mood this morning, he rest his head in his hands, eyes closed to slowly count backward to keep his temper in check with fingers digging into his temples to try and ease the incoming headache. "I don't think I can have another woman the rest of my life! She barely TOUCHED me and I had to-" Kunzite's fist hit the desk with an echoing thud, causing the other three Shitennou and his Prince to jump in their place, staring at him with wide eyes.

"We really don't need to hear about your bodily functions you moron." He bit, but Jadeite only grinned widely in a manner that made Kunzite want to punch him in his pretty face. He was lucky he loved the bastard for all his intentional jabs. Truly Kunzite often envied Jadeite and his carefree manner, knowing beneath it all he was actually very serious, and very passionate in his loyalties. It wouldn't save him today though, not from Kunzite's wrath.

"I second that notion." Zoisite mumbled, waiting for the steam to clear from his leader's ears before taking his usual seat across from him at the desk. Zoi shot Kunzite an apologetic look, having been there last night he knew his patience for Jadeite would be non-existent today. To say that Kunzite was frustrated was an understatement. He spent the rest of that night wandering the gardens trying to think of anything but the young Venusian Princess whose name started with an M. THEN he too tried to sleep and lay in bed trying not to picture that look she gave him, or the sopping wet, sheer fabric of her uniform and ended up in an icy shower before dawn broke.

"I finished your rounds last night. You're welcome by the way." Kunzite mumbled, earning a hearty salute and a wink from Jadeite.

"These Interplanetary Goddesses are no fair, I don't think I could look at any normal woman the same ever again! Just thinking about it makes me-" An apple whizzed by his head before he could finish his sentence which only served to further amuse him when it hit one of the bookshelves instead. "Endymion knows what I mean, I saw that stunt you pulled last night Master." The Prince in question couldn't hide the smile that spread to his face, and Kunzite fought a groan.

"On that note," Endymion spoke up, gathering his wits though he could scarcely hide his excitement. "Kunzite, Zoisite and I depart for a Moon on a date yet to be determined so I suggest we be prepared for our absence here as well as our trip. We will be gone for three days, do you think you and Nephrite can manage to not burn Elysium to the ground?"

"How reassuring..." Kunzite muttered under his breath, burying his fingers in his hair when Jadeite crossed his heart with a finger.

"You have my word Endymion." Nephrite smirked, giving Jade a high five behind his back, not unnoticed by the Prince who shook his head with a broad smile.

"Great, the Elysian castle is going to turn into a brothel." Nephrite rustled Endymion's hair obnoxiously with his reply, his damn charming grin proving disarming to even Kunzite.

"We will take care of things around here... you know we wouldn't risk Kunzite's wrath. Especially today." Nephrite concentrated that grin toward the silver haired man in question, brooding uncomfortably behind his desk. "I guess Venus wasn't as kind to him as she apparently was to Jadeite, it's all he's been talking about."

No- Venus had acted civil, decent- well almost decent- toward Kunzite and he guessed later that night that her actions toward the blonde General were some form of game to her.

"Please don't get that idiot barking again." Kunzite groaned when the Eastern King's face lit up. "Speaking of, Jadeite, report to the training grounds. You will give me twenty laps around the palace prior, and you'll be my sparring partner today. Hand to hand only, no weapons." Jadeite's eyes went wide because Kunzite was almost as deadly with his fists as he was with a sword. Normally he would have risen to that challenge with another smart assed remark but there was a murderous glint in Kunzite's eye that morning that had him shuffling toward the door to start on his laps. "Oh and Jadeite, you'll be taking my night shift tonight as well. You know, since I had to complete yours." His face fell further, but was left little room to argue.

He had a long, full day of preparations and normal duties. Dodging Beryl as she seemed to be entertaining the King more frequently these days, and while she did little to hide her longing, Endymion was far too busy trying to solidify his place beside the woman he truly loved. The Prince never thought to pay her much mind anymore when she'd offer him a fortune, or lunch, or even a walk in the gardens as they had when they were young. Kunzite almost felt badly for her, though she gazed at him strangely when he tried to explain to her that Endymion was working much harder now that the King was otherwise indisposed. Surely she could understand his own duties had multiplied a great deal, and it was the perfect cover for the truth. Regardless with his schedule freed for the evening as Jadeite reported again for watch, Kunzite was allowed to finally relax, falling asleep with ease not ten pages into a book on philosophy he'd started.

It was late, or early, he knew that much when the yelling woke him. Kunzite groaned loudly, throwing the thin sheet off of him, already cursing as he shuffled out into the cool stone floor of his balcony in the humid summer heat. When his eyes finally focused, he guessed Serenity had made her appearance because there was yet another woman, a voice he didn't recognize currently calling Jadeite every name in the book, hoping he at least deserved it. Kunzite almost felt bad for him, throwing a thin white shirt over his shoulders and not bothering to change from the thin linen pants he wore that were loose and airy from back home. He wasn't about to bother dressing in uniform in the middle of the night.

Kunzite checked Endymion's garden first, seeing a familiar ward on the door he merely shook his head and walked in the direction of yelling. He wondered briefly if Venus might have joined them, knowing it wasn't likely since Serenity never brought more than one of her guard with her. There was a theory he wished to test on one of the other Goddesses, wanting to see if the draw he felt to Venus was unique, or if hopefully they all had that charm that might haunt him for the rest of the week. He found he craved talking with her, a dangerous craving that Kunzite had all but pushed out of his head though it was so much stronger in these late hours when the world held a softer more dreamlike quality.

The shrieking continued behind a wall of shrubbery which he stepped toward cautiously, abruptly halting their argument when he was spotted, still trying to shake off the sleep he'd been woken from. His eyes did widen when he saw this one. She was incredibly striking and intense looking with hair long as Venus' falling in deep black down her back with an oil slicked sheen that was almost violet in the light. She was clad in an identical sailor's uniform as Venus' but in red with a loud purple bow at her chest, clad in red heels that complimented the best set of legs he'd ever seen. This said a lot because he wasn't a "leg guy" as Jadeite had so gently put it because legs were his thing. Her eyes were like coals, burning around their violet hues that were intuitive and intimidating as hell, like she peered directly into his soul. Her skin was like ivory, lips a natural crimson too rich to be real and yet he could see the difference between her and those of divine birth as Serenity and Venus were.

She was far more beautiful than most Terran women still, but Kunzite's heart sank when he realized that as stunning as Mars was, he felt nothing like he did when faced with Venus and her sad blue eyes. His theory had failed him. He felt her power, but he found it hot and invasive, somewhat uncomfortable. She looked angry still, her stance aggressive and he gathered from the burning smell that she must have been Mars.

"Forgive my current state Princess, I am Kunzite, head of the Golden Army. I hope my fellow General isn't bothering you." She eyed him suspiciously, clearly not as open to alliances or trusting of strangers as her own leader or Princess, though he also knew it wasn't her first time on their planet. Jadeite never was one to keep a thing to himself, the man in question standing there grinning ear to ear with slight singed hair and uniform. She seemed to compose herself, giving the image of perfect alarming calm.

"Apologies for waking you General. Your man was starting to get a little handsy and I had to put him in his place." Her arms crossed over her chest, glaring over at Jadeite who shrugged in feigned innocence.

"I was just talking. You know, killing time, normal guard duty stuff. Not my fault the royals are otherwise occupied and it's a lovely night, an arm around the shoulder is hardly what I'd call handsy." Kunzite almost smiled, remembering a similar walk he'd taken with Venus on a night that felt so far away now. Perhaps it was the lack of sleep, but lowly as Jadeite acted it was exactly that of an act. He was charming and from what he could see, rather gentlemanly toward women outside their circle of men. Unless you were Venusian, his behavior with her still didn't exactly sit well.

"Speak as you will, but please do keep your voices down. While our gardens are empty there is still guard beyond that outer wall. There were mumbled apologies and promises to keep their bickering to a whisper to appease him, allowing Kunzite to head back to his rooms with an exhausted yawn.

He was woken a few hours later to loud moans of passion in the same garden and he got up again long enough to slam his balcony doors shut to muffle the sound- cursing Jadeite loudly as he threw the curtain closed also. He pulled a pillow over his head in attempts at bleaching his eardrums of the noise. Kunzite woke up with the Sun as usual, despite his very broken nights sleep, in an increasingly irritated mood. A singed and disgruntled looking Jadeite slapped his shoulder in passing in the hallway.

"Aphrodite has nothing on that Mars vixen, talk about playing hard to get, but my GODS when you get her..." He yawned, patting his shoulder again making Kunzite cringe as Jadeite staggered into his room he heard a muffled explanation- "Damn those legs!" Kunzite was about to break his- so much for effective night watch.

Later he saw fit to walk with Nephrite at the beginning of his watch, if only to go over everything one more time for during their absence. Aside from late night sessions over treaties between their lands, Kunzite hadn't seen the gentle giant of them much. He'd always been the calm, relaxed one of The Four, aloof and serious but the warmest soul he'd ever known. Kunzite peeled an apple as they walked, sharing it in an action all too familiar, though Nephrite was hardly a Venusian Goddess. He even chose not to point out that the taller General was in need of a shave, forever the opposite of Kunzite who did his best to appear refined where Nephrite was rugged. The warmth to his icy chill, his balance.

"We haven't seen much of you Nephrite, I can only suspect there's some girl you're keeping stashed away from us." Nephrite smiled in his gentle way, his kind eyes staring off in the distance. The huge man was a perfect mix of the four Shitennou. Cool and collected like himself, mischievous with an appetite for women like Jadeite, brilliant and calculating like Zoisite, warm and kind, with a sincerity that most men lacked in something very much like himself. The part of him that was so like Jadeite once had seemed to fade over the past weeks, something Kunzite himself related to as he'd either been too busy or too distracted to entertain his bed with the warmth of a woman.

"Is it that obvious?" Nephrite's brown eyes shifted to his leader who was just barely shorter than him then snapped to the ground in front of them when Kunzite met his eyes. He may have had more wit and charm than Jadeite but he had a horrible poker face. He thankfully had more social grace than the younger blonde soldier which was why his bashfulness took Kunzite off guard.

"Please don't tell me..." Kunzite's brow furrowed and he frowned, knowing the answer before Nephrite could respond. "The Jovian?"

"We've only met twice Kunzite, it's hardly a scandal. I'll admit I'm quite taken with her... I'm not interested in the perfection of a woman such as Serenity. Jupiter has a depth to her most women lack." Kunzite frowned deeper, it was a growing trend with the Lunar guard. All the beauty in the world with big hearts to match. "We just talk though, she's so easy to talk to. And no... nothing political." Nephrite smiled warmly at Kunzite who gave him a questioning gaze. He had an uncanny way of knowing what you were thinking sometimes, and when the stars were out it was like they whispered the information to him, revealing your secrets and telling Nephrite some of their own. "We talk about flowers, and food mostly..."

"Food?" Kunzite raised a brow and Nephrite flushed a little, raising his face to the stars as they peeked out one by one. The pale haired general tried to ignore the Northern Star directly in front of them. He didn't miss the gleam in Nephrite's eye when he shifted his brown eyes from one of the dippers to Venus.

"She's a brilliant cook apparently. She brought me the best crescent cake I've ever had in my life last time. Her planet is probably the most strict when it come to God's law. If she's found out she'd be stripped of all titles and potentially executed. Similar to us."

"And they call us barbaric..." Was all Kunzite could think to say "Speaking of, I expect you to knock Jadeite out if he becomes too big of a moron in my absence." Nephrite chuckled in that deep way that warmed your spirits.

"You got it boss." They walked in silence for a moment, Nephrite closing his eyes with his head back, his hair falling below his lower back with the motion in thick waves. "Boss?"

"Yeah?" Kunzite raised a brow up at him, he'd grown used to Nephrite calling him that, it was better than Kunz anyways.

"Watch your heart. The stars have some interesting things to say about you." Kunzite swallowed, knitting his brows.

"Like what?" Nephrite grinned, a wide toothy smile that had most women fawning to the floor. That, and it wasn't often that Kunzite forgot his usual icy exterior for something curious like that of a child.

"Aw man... you'll fall the hardest of all of us." Kunzite frowned, followed by the barking laughter of his companion who draped an arm lazily over his shoulders without his brown eyes having the courtesy to look at him. He damned those rude stars, not having the courtesy to speak to him as well. "The stars have their secrets boss- you'll find out soon enough."

It was in passing later, Kunzite hadn't even realized Beryl was in the palace that he passed her on her way out. It was late enough that he was heading for bed and her presence startled him. Normally she held a light demeanor, would tease him relentlessly because she knew he didn't care much for her, not that things weren't already awkward after that night in the tavern. Beryl wore her red cloak that almost matched her hair, yet she almost blended into the shadows of the hallway. She seemed off, eyes a bit lighter green than he remembered, they were almost yellow. He knew she entertained the King on occasion with fortunes and medicine though he only seemed to grow more frail.

"Good evening, General." Her voice purred a bit more than normal, there was no friendly edge as here had been only weeks ago and it made his hair stand on end. The small charms she wore on her ankles and wrists still chimed pleasantly, the noise no longer suited to her imposing posture.

"Beryl. You're here late this evening." He frowned, seeming to meet her in the center of the main hall by the palace entrance. Her green eyes gleamed up at him, her brow raised in an almost arrogant manner.

"Well it seems some still desire my services." Beryl smirked, shifting her mass of red waves behind her shoulder. He swore her hair was a deeper red before, now appearing too red. "I won't keep you, but do give my regards to the Prince for a safe journey." Kunzite frowned, the King must have said something.

"We'll not be gone long. A simple routine meeting." She smirked, slow and almost seductive, sidling up to him slowly. "The King is in no way to travel."

"Oh do be careful General. The fall is hard... but can you pick yourself back up?" She giggled, girlish but dark and sauntered away with laughter in her throat. Kunzite shivered, silver eyes narrowing after her as the doormen let Beryl out into the night, disturbed because he wasn't sure what she meant by her words.

Early the next morning, after a fitful sleep, a new face greeted the Terran trio in Endymion's garden. Kunzite gave the strange looking girl a once over, deciding she looked much like some water nymph from Grecian tales he'd read once as a child. Her hair was cropped short like a pixie in soft layers that framed her wide clear blue eyes that were both calculating and full of untold knowledge. Her hair color matched her eyes almost perfectly, a blue shade that was completely unnatural, except it was natural to her. Her features held that delicate softness he'd seen in the Martian in previous nights that Terran women lacked even if the Martian seemed like she was anything but soft. Her lips were a cool shade of pink that flattered her and matched the flush that rose to her cheeks when she appeared before them. She was quite timid, especially in comparison to the other girls he'd met so far. Her body was lithe but fit like that of a strong swimmer, not as curved as Serenity and he dared not compare her to Venus but she was beautiful all the same. The small wings on her silver sandals told Kunzite she was Mercury, the Messenger, and found it fitting.

Zoisite was staring, rather blatantly and Kunzite elbowed him gently. She was achingly beautiful to the youngest Shitennou in an alien way, all blue and silver and calm like a still lake. It was sad to him that he knew how Zoisite felt, never forgetting that first night in the garden. She seemed to notice his friend's grass green stare because she flushed brighter and had to force herself to speak.

"Good Morning Your Highness, Generals, it's a pleasure to meet you. I will be brief as I'm sure formal introductions will occur as soon as we arrive but you may call me Mercury. I am going to pull forth a small amount of your magic and lend you my aid to teleport. I must warn you that those not used to transporting in such a manner are often ill. It can be extremely disorienting." The flush seemed to spread down to her neck and chest when she extended her arms to them. Kunzite became intrigued that she could awaken a bit of their magic, his had grown some in the past weeks but not nearly enough to make a difference. Being so untrained in the ways of magic there was no one really qualified to train them aside from Beryl, and Kunzite declined that idea as soon as it came. Zoisite almost too eagerly took the girl's hand, Kunzite resigned to wrapping his large hand around her forearm so Endymion could take her other hand. He noticed the eye contact between Zoi and Mercury, how flustered she got when he smiled warming at her with his unique grass green eyes. He didn't look at her the way he looked at Venus, there was nothing clinical about it.

There was a sudden jolt up his arm like he had been struck by a bolt of lightning as she pulled her focus, a light sweat breaking over her brow. Something surged through his veins that filled him with warmth that Kunzite was uncomfortable with. His head was already swimming, needing to strain to hear her next words with his heart throbbing so loudly in his ears.

"Please take a very deep breath- the atmosphere is about to change." The group did as told, something humming through his blood like fire and ice all at once and he fought against the queasiness that began to settle in his lower abdomen. "Now focus on the moon, picture it's glow." She whispered. The three followed orders of the Mercurian and suddenly it was like a blow to the stomach, the wind sucked from their lungs.

When he opened his eyes, he took a few very deep breaths but nothing could prepare him for the ground spinning beneath his feet, the sight of a silvery white and dare he say dead landscape and a massive swirling planet above them or below them, it was hard to tell. He felt stronger, but he also saw everything around his line of sight darken around the edges of his vision. Kunzite was vaguely aware of someone retching in a bush nearby but he was more or less focused on breathing which came harder as the atmosphere was a lot thinner.

When things calmed down after what felt like an hour and was probably something more like five minutes, Kunzite realized they were in a courtyard outside the main entrance to a vast white palace. Zoisite was sprawled on his back on a bench, Endymion nearby leaning on a pillar speaking with the blue haired Mercurian girl. A strange looking man, tall with stark white hair that fell pin straight down his back stood behind her. He was also dressed in all white, pale skin with large eyes that were too green, his features almost feline as the dark haired woman beside him. Her eyes were wide and blue, quite beautiful in her yellow gown that was layered over a sheer black fabric that barely concealed her legs from the knee down. They stood arm in arm, the crescent symbols on their forehead spoke of Lunar descent or perhaps they were just marked for the royal court. Kunzite had been leaning against a pillar himself, right beside the bench Zoi was sprawled on with his head between his knees trying to get his bearings. He stood slowly, leaning over his friend to make sure he was still alive.

"She's really cute." He muttered, followed by a miserable groan beneath the arm he'd draped over his eyes. Yup, he was alive alright.

"Zoi, you okay?" Kunzite grumbled, voice sounding like he gargled gravel.

"I think so... just waiting for the ground to stop moving." He replied, muffled beneath the weight of his arm. The tall white haired man, who was quite thin and graceful moved toward them appearing almost amused by Kunzite's possibly green tinted pallor.

"Forgive the rough transport, it's really the only way for us to allow visitors. I am Artemis, I introduce my wife Luna. We are Mauan servants to the Queen Serenity and the Silver Millennium. Luna is guardian and handmaiden to Princess Serenity and Adviser to the Queen. I am essentially anything else the Queen needs, dignitary, coordinator, scholar... but most importantly Guardian to the Lady Venus. Should you need anything during your stay, please allow us to provide for you." Artemis bowed politely, but there was something in the way his green eyes appraised him that told Kunzite their presence wouldn't be so welcome by all of them. He offered the Mauan a bow in return, cursing his own curiosity.

"Forgive my forwardness, you said you were Mauan?" Kunzite took two glasses of water offered by Luna, nudging Zoi gently to sit up and hydrate himself while Kunzite attempted to take a polite sip instead of downing the whole thing. "The symbol on your forehead, I assumed that was a mark of Lunar blood?" He took a longer drink, the woman named quite fittingly Luna seemed to smile in understanding, growing more amused when Kunzite became physically jarred as Artemis stepped into the light. His pupils shifted into slits as he'd seen in the cats of Earth but it was quite another thing to see it from someone so humanoid. They were beautiful people, though strange and alien to him. Artemis did not seem so amused by his fascination. His wife seemed to take on the speaking, her voice lilted by an accent he couldn't place.

"We are a feline race, a civilization from a star not too far from here called Mau. we can shapeshift into cats when necessary, but our world was taken over by a dark force, destroyed by one of our own. Queen Serenity was gracious enough to save the few she could, and is guarding us here under her power. The least we could do was offer what aid we could to her cause." Luna smiled again, taking the empty glasses from the two soldiers. "I know this is far from what you are used to, but I do wish for you to make yourselves at home. You are most welcome here General Kunzite, Zoisite." Zoi was smiling at her, offering her a polite aristocratic bow that obligated him to do the same. "I understand the tensions between our great civilizations, but I think the Prince is very forward about his intentions."

Kunzite almost visibly winced at her words, if only she knew that his very Prince had already deflowered and defiled their pure little Princess...stupid Prince. He offered a very polite thanks, the two Mauan's walking away seeming to take their place for introductions Kunzite knew would take place very soon. He rubbed his head, fighting the beginnings of a headache to appraise their surroundings. What had once seemed dead initially in his blurry vision gave way to magic. The ground was like diamond dust beneath their feet, the palace sprawling and elegant in white and silver, smallest hints of gold and crystal. A vast city spread out for miles behind the walls and much like his own home there were gardens, the foliage a silvered green and crystal fruit hung from their branches. It shimmered, and hummed with an overpowering magic that had his stomach feeling at ease from the transport. He wasn't too surprised to see Endymion nearly unaffected save for a small headache. His magic was already far more pronounced than his or any of his men.

Kunzite hadn't been prepared. He leaned on his pillar trying to regain some semblance of composure once he finally caught his breath and was able to take in a bit more of the mystical silver lands around him. All he knew was the double doors to the palace opened, Endymion stepped to stand in front of him and Zoisite stumbled to his feet, still rather pale himself. They were greeted with mostly familiar faces, all of them so beautiful it was hard to not be taken captive by them immediately because not a single one of them didn't demand attention.

Mercury shuffled to join the group of five girls, falling into a formation Kunzite would have known anywhere since it was the same amongst his men. Princess Serenity was in the center of them wearing a gown of white and silver and a horrible poker face upon seeing Endymion, giving his Prince a look that nauseated him all over again. He exhaled the breath he held slowly through his nose, not realizing he'd stopped breathing. Zoisite seemed no better, his green eyes were bugging out and he clenched his jaw tight lest it fall to the ground at the sight of the five girls. If Kunzite knew any better the youngest of The Four would have a nosebleed, and he discretely handed Zoi his handkerchief. Kunzite did well to hold his posture as usual, struggling to keep his face as stone because she immediately caught his eye right away, stealing any hopes he had of breathing.

Venus stood on Serenity's right side, as he now stood at Endymion's. She wore a gown of pale silk, she often wore gold, but in the the light like this she was the embodiment of it. The silk was damn near translucent, just opaque enough to not reveal more than the shadows of her legs but the fabric flowed like air around her as she walked making it only slightly less noticeable. This gown was no different than the others he'd seen her in, it had the high slits up the sides to her hip bones and exposed long and toned legs when she moved, today paired with gladiator sandals a darker gold shade that laced all the way up to her knees. Venus had paired the pale gold gown with a solid gold corset, a complimentary matching shade to her sandals, carved with intricate patterns and spanned the length of her torso stopping just under her breasts to push them up slightly in ways that made the blood rush from his brain. It did him no favors that when the corset caught the light, the intricate carvings of it shimmered and drew attention exactly to her chest. Her hair was unchanged, yet new to him by the light of day, held half back, straight and smooth, by a vibrantly red ribbon bringing forth the lustrous sheen of her golden hair and insanely blue eyes. She defied the white and silver around her, and seeing Aphrodite incarnate without the veil of night was blinding indeed. Kunzite found he had to focus harder on his breathing.

Princess Serenity introduced her girls one by one, the fact that most of them had already met a near obvious thing because if the Moon Princess was anything, it was a horrible liar. It was almost a spectacle of fun and games for her and his Prince who dramatically dropped to his knee as he would have normally to kiss her hand. The grins they snuck at each other, Endymion's particularly deviant, made Kunzite want to kick him right in the ass. He felt it suddenly, seeming to halt whatever antics taking place, hidden or no. It seemed Endymion and Zoisite felt it too, as though the floor had been ripped out from under their feet, a rippling power that worked out all the tension of his worried muscles and eased the stress he carried on his brow. It was exquisite, this awesome power, and it wiped the smirk right off Endymion's face, replacing it with utter awe as he was the first one of them to see her.

The Moon Goddess Serenity, Selene, or Selenity as some of their people called her stepped into the doorway, almost floating out onto the front entrance to the palace. She was rather tall in comparison to her daughter, arms long and slender at her side. Her face was so similar to the Princess' but nearly emotionless as Kunzite had always imagined Gods would be that probably had more to do with his lack of faith than anything else. Her eyes were a molten-like silver as though two coins were constantly being forged, hair an almost white, fair silver. Her skin poreless and pink, the same as the Princess who was more crystal to her Mother's silver.

Kunzite had never felt, or experienced a power like this before, holding himself back from quaking in her very presence that dominated, and drowned out the harmonious mixture of power frequencies he felt from the five girls previously. He and his men held strong, though he could feel Zoi's fingers wrap around his wrist, his green eyes wide in something like fear and complete fascination. Endymion impressed, not breaking a sweat in his approach to the silver Queen, bowing down to one knee so Kunzite and Zoi followed suit in respect. Queen Serenity had stopped beside her daughter, her eyes seeming to assess the three of them as they bowed before her, and Endymion offered his hand. Kunzite was surprised for some reason that the Queen slipped her slender hand in his, and he kissed it without missing a beat.

"Your Highness. I am Endymion, Prince of the Golden Kingdom of Elysium, representative of King Adrian of Earth. I proudly introduce General Kunzite, Commander of the Golden Army and King of the Middle East, and General Zoisite, my Royal Adviser and King of the European Sect of Earth." The Goddess rested eyes on Endymion, then himself, and Zoisite last, returning to his Prince who stood just in front of him. It was strange when she smiled, how her whole face shifted and became warm and beautiful when she regarded them.

"We so welcome you, beautiful Prince of Elysium and you're so gracious Heavenly Kings. Your reputations truly do you no justice." Queen Serenity smiled graciously and Kunzite fought to not roll his eyes. King Adrian hadn't been kidding when he said they were lovely, the Queen was peace incarnate if he'd ever experienced it and yet she welcomed them after so many generations of Endymion's family trying to make peace only to fall short. He knew she only agreed because of the Golden Crystal, that the Shitennou were a signal to her that Endymion could be the one to unite them. Her smile was warm, even genuine, and confusing to him. It would be easy to understand their contempt of his people if she wasn't so kind, just as his King described. Being a logical man as he was, it told him there was more to it all, and he was only a mere insect unworthy to ask for answers to such ancient secrets.

"A humble thank you for your warmth and hospitality. Your kingdom is breathtaking Your Highness, I look forward to seeing more of it." Endymion stood slowly, unwavering in his eye contact with the all powerful Goddess despite his affair with her daughter who appeared adorably impatient beside them. "I've brought gifts of our world, a large supply of wood as well as some of Earth's finer grasses and flora I am told do not linger on the Moon."

"You are far too generous Endymion, you have my sincerest gratitude." She placed a hand on the plate armor of his shoulder and gestured for him to walk with her, her smile beaming, almost a replication of the Princess Serenity and Kunzite wondered if the younger girl would fall victim to this colder Goddess-like stoicism as she aged. Even he hoped she'd stay as she was, the girl was radiant and sweet, undeserving to end up so wrathful and emotionless. Serenity flanked Endymion and her mother leaving the other four Princesses with the two Generals and the Mauan guardians. Kunzite offered introductions properly to the Jovian and Mercurian girls, deciding right away that he wasn't sure there was another woman in existence so meant for Nephrite than Jupiter. She was as warm and welcoming as his soldier, and far more beautiful than he could have imagined.

He watched the airy shift of her skirts as Venus stepped toward her guardian, resting a gentle hand on his arm for a few hushed words. The Mauan couple, who he still couldn't stop staring at with their cat eyes, pointed ears and small fanged smiles, gathered the small bit of luggage the men brought along with them and began to carry it off. He'd read about the Venusian's guardian though not much was written on him other than he was witness to her birth and Knighted on Venus as her guardian, he would remain at her side always. He didn't miss the looks the Mauan gave them, the clear disdain for their presence. Kunzite told himself he was just being protective of her. Hoping in fact, that Venus might have someone to look after her since it seemed she was always looking out for everyone else.

She approached him then, the gentle sway of her hips equally distracting as those flashes of her legs and hips as she sauntered to greet him. Venus was so out of place in this world of white and silver, only hints of gold laced into the landscapes and architecture, even the royal's clothing. There was no place for her hear among the silver moonlight when she was pure sunshine.

"Apologies for the rough transport General, I'm pleased to finally make your acquaintance." She gave him a smile, gentle- that sad expression laced in like the gold in her eyes into the fibers of her soul. Artemis had stared at the two together for a moment, thinking he saw something strange between them but shook it off almost visibly. His jaw clenched, staring down into her unwavering blue eyes a bit unnerved that unlike her Princess, Venus was an exceptional actress.

"The pleasure is mine Lady Venus, your hospitality is appreciated." Kunzite almost winced at his choice of words sparking some amusement in her big blue eyes and he found himself unable to look away. He did note the tension of her guardian as though he had just propositioned the young Goddess. It made Kunzite miss his own guardian, wishing that Zara could be present to see this momentous step forward for Earth. Knowing she would have been so proud.

"May I show you to your rooms now? I'm sure you'd like to get some rest before our meeting within the hour." Kunzite had been studying her, the light doing her so much justice and not enough at once. He could see the flawlessness of her, and the mess behind her eyes that he had yet to figure out. Venus was perfect as she was legendary for being in beauty, which he could vainly bask in now that he could see her clearly, and longed to see her golden tones beneath the Earthen Sun.

"Yes, thank you." His arm extended to her in offering as a gentleman might, needing to swallow a lump of nerves in his throat at the familiarity of which her slender arm laced with his. Today he was all formality and white gloves, so regrettably he couldn't feel her skin against his own. Just that hum of her power that got lost amongst the many wavelengths of it surrounding him that now sunk into his skin through his own thick uniform. He shifted attention to check on Zoisite who was relentlessly speaking with Mercury, anxious to ask his billion questions no doubt and yet he remained polite in his request for a tour. She accepted of course, turning a beet red shade as she took Zoi's arm while he spoke. He was a skilled diplomat so he wasn't concerned about him doing something he shouldn't, but proper as he was Zoi was a damn charming man when he tried.

His own escort settled into a rambling one sided conversation as she pointed out various areas of the castle as they walked. Kunzite's eyes drifted around him observantly at the almost absurd amount of very elegant pillars and tall windows, blue glass skylights that cast a dream like quality over the white stone and marble. He fell into comfortable silence, content to take in the baroque and intricate details of the palace around him in efforts to not pay too much attention to the girl on his arm lest he make a fool of himself by falling back under her spell. Her scent was distracting enough, different than the sweet aroma he'd initially noted upon arrival, and far better. He could feel her fingers toying with the cuff on his uniform jacket while she chattered on adorably, delicate fingers tracing the buttons and embroidery which was far distracting enough.

They walked quite deeply into the castle, she noted that the Inner Sanctum was off limits and gestured down one hallway that held stairs leading upward. Kunzite assumed that was the Royal Quarter and gave her a silent nod. She gestured up some stairs opposite of her at the juncture of the hallway.

"My room's up there...I mean the Senshi wing... is up there along with our best Mercurian library." He could almost see the sweat breaking on her brow, and Artemis stiffened, his ear seemed to shift strangely and Kunzite saw him turn an eye back at them with an annoyed expression. Meanwhile, she fumbled to explain the security reasons behind the proximity to these rooms after the fact like a child caught in a lie. Artemis walked ahead of them toward one of the doors, Luna passed them having dropped off Zoisite things and offered the trio a smile. He nodded back but guessed Artemis didn't return the sentiment. Venus cleared her throat and pulled him gently down the hall to stop by the door that Artemis had disappeared behind. Kunzite couldn't help but think how close he was to the rooms that belonged to her. "Here is your room General, I hope it is to your liking."

"I'm sure it will be remarkable." Kunzite offered her a half smile to which she bit her lip. It was a nervous habit he realized, although quite appealing. A gentle cough from Artemis snapped his attentions away from her lush petal-like lips as he passed them with a silent nod, his hair stark white and pin straight down his back almost like a long tail.

"Queen Serenity has insisted business take place today, I'm sure you received the agenda but the afternoon will be yours until this evening. We have arranged for dinner for everyone in the gardens later." Her eyes finally met his again and he was painfully aware they were alone in the hallway. Even Venus seemed to shift nervously on her feet. Kunzite felt somewhat smothered, her presence had such command over him and he wondered if everyone felt this around her. "Otherwise we meet in the conference room in an hour so you can get settled in the meantime. Please let us know at once if there is anything we can get for you."

"Thank you, Lady Venus." He took her small hand in his and placed a soft kiss on her knuckles. She bit her bottom lip again in a very appealing manner and offered a short curtsy. Kunzite's lips were tingling when he entered the room and began to close the door when he heard her voice again.

"General...I hope this meeting goes well, for all our sakes." She gave a small smile, genuine and warm and whipped around in a flurry of gold to catch up with her guardian. Unsure of what she meant, Kunzite shut the door, assessing the very white and silver room before him and pressed his gloved fingers to his lips where he'd kissed her hand and smiled. There were so many meanings behind her carefully placed words and gorgeous eyes and he set out to explore them each over the next hour.

Kunzite filed into the conference room behind Endymion, Zoisite at his back. Venus and Queen Serenity sat together at the end of a very long table and the Queen gestured for the men to join them with a graceful hand. Luna and Artemis filed in as well, taking seats a few apart from the rest of the group, ready to take notes. Kunzite watched in mild amusement as Venus's stare bore holes into Endymion when he spoke with Serenity. He tried with all his might to avoid looking at her for too long, but she had changed into her own uniform, and he struggled to not remember every moment of her bathing in that fountain in it, or that look in her eye.

Endymion began the meeting, speaking about what exactly the Silver Millennium had to benefit by easing Earth into their Alliance. It was compelling, passionate and well planned out thanks to the note that Venus had so graciously provided Endymion. Every now and again Kunzite got caught up by Venus, she was taking notes and chewing on the end of her pen in what looked like fear or excitement. She'd glance up at him briefly, each time her lips would curl in an unassuming little smile that made his heart flip. All the while, Endymion was basically selling himself and their planet to an alliance Kunzite wasn't so sure they'd fit in, even if the Prince thought otherwise. Their politics had never sat well with Zoisite and he was inclined to agree.

Kunzite spoke of the Golden Army, and the minor armies lead by his own kingdoms, various points on their wars, and his own diplomatic resolutions. He couldn't help but feel like he was just handing them classified information, with a reminding look from Endymion that they were to gain Queen Serenity's trust. He'd thought his speech out well, selling his own experience in combat, the organization he'd so painstakingly spent years to achieve, and outlined his training regimens. He knew Queen Serenity saw a hard and cruel man when she gazed upon him- his reputation was well known and he made a point to let her know that while it looked like barbarism to some cultures it was effective, but he'd never push a man beyond his limit, only sought to make them stronger. Furthermore, Kunzite was nothing of the Sultan she would know of the Middle East. He had been a child then, and even as a child he'd done more good than harm in efforts to prove he was not his Father.

Zoi gave his presentation on Terrans themselves, their scientific advances and human nature and even Earthen view of her Silver Millennium and it's potential conflicts within the Terran planet. He'd caught her eyes once or twice during the meeting in brief glances that would have been hard to detect, but as the meeting drew on and Zoisite kept talking they lingered a bit longer. The light quirk of a smile on her lips was beautiful and he wanted to make her smile always. Kunzite had a brief idea of Zoisite's presentation already but they'd been sitting there for hours and even he was starting to get antsy. Earth's Head General was not used to sitting still for too long. Not when a scrutinizing Goddess sat picking apart their very existence and a Venusian that embodied Love, Beauty, and Sex kept looking at him like that.

Endymion began his conclusion, a ringer even Kunzite didn't see coming. Perhaps he should have, but when Endymion proposed a potential joining of kingdoms in the future by marriage, all jaws in the room almost hit the table but Endymion didn't miss a beat. He explained that with help, he could be trained to draw out his magics and wield Earth's Golden Crystal. Earth would rely on a closer partnership with the Moon Kingdom to do so, careful to not bring the Silver Millennium into their agreement just yet. He was more than willing to combine their powers under Queen Serenity's rule and join her house. The Queen and Venusian looked like they were seeing wedding bells already and Kunzite was seeing a death sentence.

There were many outcomes to this that his mind started racing to untangle, including a planet wide uprising against the Golden Kingdom itself since Terrans feared these powerful beings. He also had to question if Endymion would turn his back on his own people for the sake of his love for Princess Serenity if it came down to it. They were dark thoughts, thoughts he'd sit down at his desk and decipher when he returned to his home. They warranted further discussion. Queen Serenity seemed intrigued of course, he would be too if he held all the power of the Galaxy in one hand with another hand held out to receive more. He liked Queen Serenity despite himself, but he didn't trust her. Not fully.

Kunzite hadn't been so relieved for a meeting to end. His uniform was almost as suffocating at the Moon Queen and her gracious smile, not to mention those small smiles and hidden glances exchanged from the Venusian. He was partially to blame but looking at her seemed to make it all easier for him to handle. Kunzite brushed his gloved hand across her own as Artemis ushered them from the room, unsure in the moment what he meant by it, perhaps it was like a playful last word in this little game they seemed to be playing.

He wasn't surprised that Zoisite disappeared almost immediately, all he'd spoken of the past week was having access to a Mercurian library and Kunzite assumed the man wasn't going to sleep this entire trip. Endymion offered him a wide grin, all too pleased to himself as he wrapped an arm around his shoulder and Kunzite followed him back to his rooms.

"I think that went well, don't you?" Endymion took a swig of the bottle that Kunzite brought with him, raking a hand through his ebony hair making it messier than it already was.

"I think that has yet to be determined." He responded, taking the bottle for a long drink. It was funny to him that he found that Artemis made him more nervous than the Queen. Kunzite was grateful the Mauan took the time to speak with him, but he definitely had that fatherly thing down rather well. "Venus seems to be a good ally to have on your side, since she brought you the information prior to the meeting..."

"Yeah... I just hope it's not Venus the Queen tries to pair me with if we link Kingdoms. It would make sense given her status." Kunzite almost spit out the bourbon in his mouth, it didn't go unnoticed by Endymion who laughed and continued to poke fun at him. "There is no denying her beauty is... well there aren't words... and I can't imagine bedding her would be boring..." Feelings Kunzite didn't know he possessed began to surface their ugly heads as he pictured Venus with his Prince. They'd be a striking couple... but he felt sick just thinking about it. "She's a bit much for me though... she's too much like you except she embodies the emotion you deny. Love is always messy and she is the embodiment of it... No, I won't go through with it if it's not Serenity."

The thought of having to serve Endymion the rest of his life with Venus as his Queen was torture. His Prince didn't see the Venusian for the complex creature she was. To his Prince she was a beautiful thing with an iron will and command that intimidated him. Her beauty and nothing else. The idea itself put knots in his stomach. It was true though, Serenity was simple- pure, honest and forward, sweet natured like his their late Queen had been. Someone to anchor him when he became an arrogant ass, and could even stand up to his vicious flirtatious teasing. Serenity was his match, no doubt. Except he did have doubts. About the whole thing.

"It seems that maybe the Venusian has caught your eye?" Endymion raised a knowing brow and took the bottle for a drink. Kunzite raised his own brows at his Prince and shook his head with a laugh.

"Endymion, marriage to the Venusian would be marriage to the entire Alliance, you know her limitations in regards to that. Yes, from a political standpoint it does make sense though currently she cannot marry which you would know had you done your reading. I've even caught you in some appreciating stares." Endymion laughed, classic Kunzite to avoid questions so smoothly.

"I just admitted she's beautiful beyond words... but her beauty is harsh, sharp somehow. Serenity is all soft and just as gorgeous as her golden counterpart." He took a drink, sighing when he swallowed the amber fluid. To him there was no comparing the two, even if they looked similar, it was clear to Kunzite who was more beautiful. "You never answered me. Has Venus caught your attention? We've all noticed you've been rather absent from your usual taverns and throngs of women. Jadeite thinks you've taken vows and joined the order."

"I have been quite busy Endymion." He frowned, the hard look his Prince gave him told that he wasn't getting out of this one alive. "Venus is beautiful, I will admit this and only this. Any attraction I harbor to her is based on that alone." He tossed his silver hair over his shoulder and leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees, hoping he could convince his brain to believe his words. "The ball is in your court Endymion- you could request marriage to Serenity. That would make the most sense to merge the Silver and Golden crystals, correct?" Kunzite said smoothly taking another drink before passing it to his prince.

"We only just met from what they know- I would prefer to do this properly if possible."

"Don't you know yet? Preference doesn't always work the way you want it to when you are royalty." Kunzite thought to himself, his pale grey eyes staring at his home planet from the balcony rail.

"I think you and I know this better than most Kunzite." Endymion peered at his General knowingly. Kunzite could easily see the King rising out of the young Prince and he was suddenly grateful that the man he served understood.

"Just know that I am not discontented by this destiny. You could be a tyrant." He smirked earning a laugh from Endymion.

"As far as I am concerned Kunzite, we are equals. You deserve this happiness as well." Kunzite frowned, he always said this to him but he never understood. Kunzite was never to let his guard down or Elysian could end up without a ruler, and he would be without a brother. He would never marry or bear a son- a decision he'd set in stone when Endymion became so determined to wield the Golden Crystal, which would in turn, create unknown long lives for himself and the Shitennou. No, he'd never leave Endymion's side. No one else could protect him the way he could and if they all lived forever, then he would forever be by his Prince's side.

"We've had this talk Endymion." He retorted darkly.

"It doesn't make me believe it less." Endymion placed a hand on Kunzite's shoulder, his blue eyes locked with Kunzite's grey and he felt that love all over again. He felt so much and knew too little, but he loved his Prince all the same. "Come on, we don't want to be late for this dinner."

Kunzite sighed, staring down at the bottle in his hand while Endymion left the balcony. Admiring the landscape beyond the railing, the Earth hanging in the sky beyond the horizon was a momentary breath he allowed himself. Being on the Moon was beyond any realm of reality Kunzite knew, human nature allowing him to feel fear of it, the thrill and excitement of being on another world entirely. One of many forbidden worlds he knew to exist that had only been written in the mythology of their own story riddled world. Endymion called to him impatiently, forcing Kunzite abandon the bottle of liquor on his balcony.

He paused to run fingers through his long silver hair to ensure it still looked proper before he put his white gloves back on. He was prepared to play the diplomat, be proper and polite. Silence had always served him well unless there was something of importance to say. Silence had been his solace when he was young and his curiosity landed him with broken noses, black eyes, and welts from the brutality of his Father. Tonight Kunzite resolved that he would speak, openly and freely to those otherwise forbidden to him, one person came to mind of course as he rolled his eyes when Endymion ordered him to move his ass. Not many knew the boundless curiosity he harbored, the questions left unasked because he'd been taught so young that it was a burden worthy of violence.

"Come on, oh fearless Commander!" Zoisite had joined in on Endymion's impatience, both standing in the doorway to his rooms when Kunzite came in from outside. He simply gave them a hard look, gesturing for them to clear the doorway so they could leave. Perhaps it was being away from Elysium and all those hard worked duties, but he felt excitement for the first time in a long time for a social gathering. Fear as well because he knew that while they needed to stay professional, curiosity was a very dangerous thing to have.


	9. Chapter 9

The light of the palace had dimmed, everything overall becoming softer by the whims of candle light and the soft ambient glow the entire planet seemed to take on as their day ended. The halls were wide and airy, adorned with intricate pillars and silver lanterns, interesting art work as many castles contained that told stories of their histories. While Kunzite would always and forever prefer Elysium, he had never before seen a more romantic and beautiful atmosphere as he had simply strolling through those candle lit halls, so rich with white marble, sparkling crystal and silver. It gave the palace and almost glittering quality, the way the silver veining of the marble with small flecks of gold flickered in the light while crystal chandeliers and candlesticks shimmered rainbows over intricate marble statues. Of course Endymion and Zoisite weren't his ideal companions for such a romantic stroll, nor the Mauan man that guided them, but their awed gazes and whispers told him that the sentiment was shared.

The glittering crystal and candle-lit ambiance followed them out onto a wide veranda lit by an array of lanterns just above a vast lawn of strange grass coated in diamond dust and silvery white hedges accented by flowers of pink, purple, and blue. Mars was standing triumphantly on the lawn having created an impressively large bonfire, Mercury and Jupiter her audience from the safety of the long table no doubt set to serve the party for dinner. Amusement laced their voices from the distance as they chattered between themselves while all sorts of silver haired men and women set up a buffet that looked as mouth watering as it smelled. Kunzite had completely forgotten the necessity of food until he smelled whatever Heaven was being served since his stomach had taken its time to adjust after the transport. A haunting melody drifted over the air as three string artists played songs he'd never heard off to the side. Strangely, Kunzite kept seeing something shimmering in the rather bright silver evening. Almost like the fireflies of his own planet floating on the air but fainter, more like a fine glitter.

"Some say they are fairies." Kunzite snapped his head in the direction of the voice, greeted by the Queen's molten stare and the Princess' wide smile at her side. Her face was kind, and warm with the most beautiful soft smile. "Truly it's only the moon dust settling, or perhaps a shard of crystal falling from a tree.. could be magic..either way even the air sparkles here."

"Your home is beyond the realms of beauty Your Highness.." Kunzite spoke softly, once more turning to stare out into the soft glow their nights held, drifting over a fantastical garden he was anxious to explore. "a dreamscape of it's own creation."

"Ah, so Earthen Warlords are privy to pretty words. You have an appreciation for the big picture General, more men of War could learn from a man like yourself." She smiled graciously, Kunzite tried not to pay mind to the eyes Endymion and Serenity gave each other beside them as to not draw attention. It was easy enough when you're being stared down by an ethereal Goddess.

"I like to think of myself as more of a man of honor, of loyalty than war. When one has purpose as I do toward my Crown and my people, war becomes increasingly important to avoid." His grey eyes clashed with Endymion's for a second, the Prince's face warmed by his words. Kunzite spoke very little on a good day, only speaking when something important was to be said. "A man will do anything to keep his honor sacred..." Kunzite paused again as Venus emerged from the darkened doorway and onto the terrace with her guardian in tow. The soft silk of her gown, and that corset she'd changed back into glimmered in the dim light. She was radiant, and he found himself short of breath again, ignoring the erratic beat of his heart when her blue eyes met his. He'd almost forgotten to finish his own sentence. "...when he finds such purpose to live for."

"Ah Endymion, you are lucky to have such a man as leader for your Shitennou. His passion explains much about your army's reputations as well." Clearly her focus had shifted to his Prince, her voice gushing and happy. Kunzite shifted on his feet just slightly, watching with his eyes alone as Venus joined the side of Princess Serenity. "Our Venus is nearly devoted to a fault, I'm not sure what my Kingdom would be without her. She is certainly the same to Serenity that General Kunzite appears to be for you." At mention of her name, Venus beamed over at her Queen and Princess with such love on her face, a devotion that mirrored his for the dark haired man at his side. It was a practiced and genuine smile at once, and when Venus glanced at him in passing toward the waiting dining table, Kunzite swore his heart jerked in his chest.

"Kunzite is exactly the leader our Golden Army needed, he keeps me in line as well, but all four of my men are my world Your Highness. There are no better on Earth for certain." He quirked a smile at his Prince when he clapped a hand onto his shoulder and Zoisite's simultaneously. The younger General flushed, bowing to excuse himself no doubt to go talk to the girls at their table seeming uncomfortable in close proximity to a real Goddess. It was also no secret to Kunzite how Zoi felt about their politics, perhaps he'd just had enough for the day though he assumed the Mercurian might have had a thing to do with it. It was rare for Zoisite to have access to someone with such knowledge. He'd feared more than once that he and the other Shitennou weren't exactly academic enough for the caliber of conversation the young General craved.

Politics aside, Queen Serenity was disarming. Where she had been so official and cold earlier he found that she and Princess Serenity were equally just as warm, friendly and sweet with curiosity. He found it hard to think that this arrangement could be so bad, knowing once he was at home to face the cold reality of it all, he'd probably change his tune. There was still so much to consider. Regardless, Princess Serenity was much like her Mother it seemed, the way she laughed or became fascinated by something of their world Endymion explained to her in further depth. Kunzite frowned, grey eyes darting between the three of them while they took part in such light hearted banter. For a Queen that held the Earth at arms length for so long, she was quite welcoming and he couldn't help but think there might be another motive at play.

The evening was brighter here than on Earth, no doubt reflecting light all around them from the pale dust on the ground and crystals hidden in places you would never have thought to look. Now that all parties were present, the Queen ushered them toward the table where the buffet style spread awaited them. The arrangement was surprisingly casual, merely as though a group of friends were meeting for a dinner party than guests at some Royal diplomatic occasion. Queen Serenity explained that the ball was for all that formal nonsense and to please make themselves at home. Kunzite remained baffled by the at sentiment but filed in line with his plate regardless because he felt as though he hadn't eaten in days.

"I'm pretty sure we could solve all of the issues of the Alliance with food." Jupiter winked at him with a kind smile while they filled plates. His brow quirked in mild amusement though he apparently didn't give her the reaction she'd hoped for.

"I don't think it's that easy." Her emerald eyes glittered when she laughed a little, placing some pot roast on his plate for him. Kunzite eyed the dish and raised his brow at her.

"You can solve anything with food if it's good enough." She began to serve herself as well. "Hey I slaved over this roast. You'll just have to trust me that food like this could entice Universal peace." Jupiter was gone with another easy wink, heading back toward the table leaving Kunzite to follow. He decided he was happy to test this lesson in trust when the scent of the dish hit him, and he remembered again that he was starving. Venus was in front of him, tag teaming against Endymion with Princess Serenity, looking more like sisters than ever in that very moment. They laughed at the poor Prince who didn't quite seem to know how to handle himself between the two very playful divine girls who were curious to see if he could balance their dinner plates on his plated pauldrons. Even Kunzite had to admit it made for a rather humorous mental image and hoped they'd make good on their threats to test him.

Kunzite studied all he could of Venus in her natural state, at home where she'd be more comfortable in efforts to understand her complexities. She was certainly more alive, more animated while she spoke casually, seeming to entertain even Zoisite who joined in with more questions about the reports and rumors of her achievements in apprehending some of the less desirables of the Galaxy that she proudly obliged to. This seemed to create unease in the Silver Queen even as she added her comments of praise for Venus' job well done, or a good natured jab that the Venusian was efficient, if not eager. Even among her duties she moved and spoke so freely that it was harder to keep up with conversation with the Queen who was gratefully ready to start their meal, appearing relieved for the change in subject while they all settled into their seats.

He took his place beside her, content to observe while they ate and the wine flowed freely. She was loud, laughing and talking across the table, playing the act well that she'd never met Endymion before let alone given him the fuel he needed to get here to this place. Kunzite could see it though, between bits of conversation and laughter of which there was no shortage between Zoisite's questions and the Queen and Princess simultaneously teasing his Prince. He could see a sadness flicker across her features, or some bit of frustration that appeared so out of place in her and it only fueled his curiosity. He also noted how her arm would sometimes bump his own as they ate and otherwise ignored the other's presence aside from the one or two times their eyes would meet in crossing conversations. Kunzite had even rest his hand on the table a moment to say something of little importance to Zoisite and he could feel her fingers brush against his glove just slightly in her errand to reach for a napkin. He wasn't entirely sure when this little game had begun but it took him off guard enough to nearly make him choke on his wine.

Kunzite ended up speaking to Mars and Jupiter for a time, mostly to keep himself from becoming occupied so much by the Venusian girl beside him, and also get to know the girls his men had become a bit too enamored with. He couldn't blame them, as suspected they were as warm and kind as they were beautiful, and Earth's women couldn't hold a candle to these girls. It was clear there was a bond between them that nearly rivaled he and his Shitennou, competitive with an air of love most blood relations struggled to achieve. Kunzite wasn't a man to place much stock in the validity of fate and yet he couldn't deny there was something at work here that made perhaps too much sense. Jupiter even grew smug when he commended her cooking, unable to lie when he told her it was the best meal he'd ever had.

"Aren't you glad you trusted me now?" She'd asked him while Mercury gushed over how good it was as well. Too easy to see how Nephrite would have become charmed by the Jovian after two meetings. All the same, Kunzite knew once he got home, harsh reality would be what it was and he'd have to work on snuffing their relationships into something more professional and productive. For now he offered the Jovian a toast in response, words falling flat of how wonderful the meal actually was. It wasn't Serenity's four warriors he didn't trust after all, not that he trusted any of them completely.

The Queen said her goodnites once she had her fill of food and conversation, departing from them with a kiss to her daughter's head and leaving the group to the watchful eyes of two Mauan guardians who for the most part had kept their distance. Conversations seemed to group off, of course the Prince and Princess talking quietly while she finished the food left on Endymion's plate. Mercury seemed to relax a little under Zoisite's endless questions, the two were even arguing about something having to do with their method of teleportation and how it worked. Mars and Jupiter seemed to stick together leaving a strange beat of silence between himself and Venus who seemed content to watch them all, her eyes seemed so far away.

Kunzite swallowed a large mouthful of wine for added courage since small talk wasn't exactly his thing, and now that she was so close, it was hard to maintain whatever nerve he had earlier when he promised himself to take advantage of this time they were allowed. He'd never admit it but speaking to anyone so casually often gave him a bit of anxiety kept well concealed beneath his rather stoic demeanor, passing it off for boredom or disinterest. A product of abuse for his inquisitions at a younger age.

"I admit, my expectations have been exceeded." Kunzite commented as the crowd thinned out some in favor for the bonfire on the lawn. He lifted his glass in a small toast to Venus when her head whipped around to look at him, lips tensed in a barely discernible smirk.

"Were they so little?" Her brow was quirked, lips threatening to follow suit. His eyes followed hers over to Mars and Jupiter, seemingly enjoying a private conversation of their own before they headed toward the fire for seemingly more privacy. Kunzite smirked back when she looked at him, sipping his wine with a bit of cheese left on his plate.

"I had none." He leaned back in his chair casually, shifting just slightly toward Venus with his arm hooked over the back. A vicious lie because he had about a billion expectations before they teleported onto this alien planet, all met with the first glimpse of gold in a stark white and silver land. That very moment he was allowed to see her without the cover of night. To see that she was even more than he thought she was, and that he was in fact damned to be so haunted by her even more.

"You appear to be omitting information again General. I refuse to believe you came here with no expectations." Venus shifted in her chair as well, smirking with a light flush on her cheeks from the wine no doubt. Kunzite sought to drown as her blue eyes darted between his grey, both smug with no reason or right to be.

"In present company, I'll only say they were exceeded upon arrival." He tore his gaze away, admiring the relaxed and luxurious scene they made surrounded by food and wine, good music and casual but light conversation. Serenity was currently begging Endymion to dance with her, which he declined surprisingly. He was an exceptional dancer, and the music was fitting. Amusing to him that the Prince should grow so bashful now. He laughed a little in his throat, glancing at the tablecloth a moment before he could resolve himself to look back at her. "We'll just leave it at that."

"For now." She mused, tearing her eyes away to glance toward the Mauan sentinels and downed the rest of the wine in her glass in one drink. Then she locked eyes again, her smile spreading into something that had his heart thudding against his ribcage as though she were appraising him with her dazzling blue eyes, the wine probably having a bit to do with her boldness. It very well could have just been the way she was gauging by her behavior all evening, and it dawned on him that for all their encounters he still knew very little about her. "Are all of the Four Kings so eloquent? I hadn't thought you so capable of speaking the way you did in the meeting earlier."

"The Shitennou are said to be wiser, more powerful than other Earthen beings. Hardly the Legends we are made to be as you know, some of even the Heavenly Four could stand to mind their manners." Venus laughed a little, face lighting up in glorious amusement as she seemed to relax with the memory of Jadeite's rather foolish behavior. "Pleased to prove you wrong I suppose. I hadn't realized you found me so incapable."

"Oh no! It's not that at all!" Venus shifted toward him erratically, waving her hands to dismiss the implication of her previous words, her thigh bumping his in the process and remaining there. "Quite the opposite actually, I find myself admiring you... I mean the way you always seem so sure and steady, certainly stronger than the average man of Earth. But I mean you have to admit you hardly speak, and when you do.."

"I say exactly what I need to say Venus." Kunzite grumbled, frowning at the empty state of his wine glass. He thought he might need something stronger the way she sat, her bare leg exposed through the slit of her gown, thigh pressed against his with big appraising blue eyes boring into him.

"Well what if you WANT to say something? Needing to say something, and wanting to can be equally important General."

"Was there something you wanted to tell me Venus?" He remembered well her careless touches during dinner, their hidden glances during the meeting, all small in comparison to the long tense moments in Elysium's gardens but equally as potent to him. The thought of her response made his heart beat rapidly.

Thankfully Serenity seemed to come to his rescue, demanding her guardian dance with her with an enthusiastic tug of her arm that almost had Venus literally falling into his lap, her hand finding his shoulder if only to steady herself. Kunzite became spellbound when her blue eyes met his, both wide and startled, but she never looked away as Serenity whisked her away toward the lawn dragging a poor stuttering Mercury away from Zoisite as well. He hadn't been able to tear his eyes away if he wanted to.

Endymion and Zoisite joined him in his enrapturement as the three girls pulled Jupiter and Mars to their feet to join them. Their laughter was more carefree than anything he'd heard within the walls of Elysium as they danced together in graceful movements and flowing fabrics. Venus danced with each of them, drifting from one partner to the next in fluid and seductive movements Kunzite was certain might ruin him, her giggles light and harmoniously adding to the lighthearted song playing.

It was here that Kunzite realized that Venus was chaos. How she smiled so brilliantly but seemed so sad. Her harsh command that rivaled her own child-like curiosity and like himself, she seemed to deny herself of his attentions the way he tried in vain to steal himself from hers. Kunzite wondered a brief moment what her chaos would mean to such a grounded man like himself and his stomach churned not from the fear, but the thrill of it. She was an untamed and wild thing where the other girls seemed at least proper, and Venus was the perfect diplomat when she needed to be, rather proper herself. She had been for the most part on her visits into his world, to see her in her own was quite another thing. The woman he watched now, dancing scandalously with Mars was not a thing of propriety.

He thought Zoisite might get a nose bleed when Venus kissed the Martian girl perhaps a bit less chastely than they were used to seeing a woman kiss another. Kunzite wasn't far off from one himself and he hoped his face wasn't nearly as red as the European King's. It was ludicrous, taboo, a distraction he neither wanted or asked for. Emotions were touchy for him to put it mildly, refusing to entertain the notion that real feelings could develop for her. No reason for it other than she was with no doubt the most beautiful, and charming thing he'd ever seen in his life, and perhaps the most forbidden. Common sense told Kunzite that forbidden things often held the most appeal, and Gods there was so much about this girl that was forbidden. He told himself it was a passing thing, an infatuation that if he wasn't careful could land him a date with the Hangman or worse, the guillotine.

He frowned to himself, finding his thoughts winding down darker pathways of late when he told himself he'd enjoy this trip for what it was. Repercussions were to be left to the wayside until he was tucked safe and sound behind the desk in his study back home to plan for whatever supposed progress was about to be made. He glanced at the stars a moment, they'd often caught his attention this evening, appearing so close sometimes he thought he could just reach out and touch one. He thought of Nephrite's premonition, followed by Beryl's darker one, whatever these stars had told him tugged at his mind. Kunzite wasn't prepared to fall, not for anything, or to anyone.

Some very beautiful silver haired women emerged from the double doors out onto the terrace. They held silver platters of cakes and fruit, several delectable sweets and chocolate that Kuznite knew would be Endymion's downfall. It was rare he indulged in such sugary things but if the Prince had a weakness it was certainly chocolate. Zoisite and Endymion both stood, making Kunzite follow suit down toward the lawn to retrieve the girls still dancing and laughing to the music that had yet to cease playing. Endymion was almost swept away to dance by the tiny Princess clad in white, her big blue eyes widening and lighting up at the mention of dessert. Amused eyes watched Serenity drag him back toward the terrace immediately, excitedly chattering about Jupiter's chocolate lava cakes that he simply had to try with any thought of dancing forgotten.

After the roast, Kunzite was inclined to join them with promise of sampling more of the Jovian's food so he could rub it in Nephrite's face later, but that flicker of gold in the firelight held much more promise than sweets. Zoisite offered Mercury his arm, stating he'd very much like to try Jupiter's desserts, joking he might need her water wielding abilities should something as hot as lava be involved. Kunzite almost rolled his eyes, Jupiter and Mars both giggling at him with hushed whispers, falling on the diamond coated grass with exhaustion in front of the fire. Venus stood still, head tilted back toward the sky with her eyes closed, chest heaving with a sheen of sweat on her skin from dancing near the heat of the fire.

Kunzite found himself awkwardly standing alone, Jupiter's amused chuckle snapping him from his daze when he realized they were probably teasing him. A light clear of his throat and sideways glance had them sobering their faces, masking their amusement if only for the moment. Sparkling dust kicked up small clouds under his boots with the few steps toward Venus who remained oblivious to her surroundings and sadly oblivious to him. It was important to him that he let go, knowing he would never be able to know her outside the realms of a partner in arms, a fellow soldier wrapped up in this same mess. Like it or not, Venus was currently orchestrating this whole thing with far more grace than himself since he was on the side without the power. Thankfully her orchestrations seemed to help correct that balance as well.

"Care to walk? I showed you my gardens, it's only fair that you show me yours." Venus turned to face him, still smiling from the dance she shared with her Martian friend, the golden light of the fire hitting her hair and lighting her from behind. It had Kunzite doubting himself already, if it would truly be enough to just know her. Her gaze flickered over toward the Mauans who still mostly sat speaking in private, eyes a glittering blue clearly in consideration of sneaking off.

"That's no fair General, you have no supervision over you in your gardens. I'm afraid mine won't be as forgiving since my Guardian is quite aware of your presence. He may think I've dragged you off to take advantage of you." Kunzite full on raised a brow at this, swallowing hard with an added step in her direction. She grinned mischievously, making it increasingly difficult for him to not consider that notion in further depth.

"A common occurance Princess?" Her eyes took on a dream like quality and shifted back toward the fire with a small laugh in her throat.

"I am known to kiss men with fickle intent. Playful really, but never take advantage." Her sadness stunned him when she turned to face him again. "Amorous as Venusians can be, most of us are harmless really. I know what my nature should be... but it's not, I have kept my virtue."

Kunzite really wanted to bluntly ask her why such a thing would make her sad, but words became lost to him at the implication that she hadn't yet taken a man into her bed. The turn in conversation felt far more forbidden than their stroll through his gardens but he somehow wasn't surprised. For all the books he'd read over the years about the lewd nature of Venus' people, she had always been different. The firelight had the gold within her eyes flickering, drawing him into her with a subconscious step forward. He was fascinated by her free spirit, the loose way she had with her tongue that further solidified she was no Princess. He simply couldn't break free of her. Each time he got the resolve to walk away, she pulled him back in.

"So you haven't bewitched me then?" His grey eyes fell to her full lips, drifting upward to her eyes over the utter perfection of her face.

"Not by any source of magic, no. So I don't know General, have I bewitched you?" Venus tilted her head to gaze up at him, expression either flirtatious or amused, perhaps a mixture of the two.

"No. I suppose not." Kunzite swallowed hard, stepping passed her toward a stone bench not far from the comfort of the blazing fire, surely warmed by it's proximity. He didn't know what else to say to her question because he didn't believe his own words for an instant. She HAD bewitched him somehow. If not by magic then by the grace of something unearthly and dangerous. She was a powerful ally if nothing else, she'd proven that already, and he was no man to pine after a woman. Venus was the most powerful ally of the Alliance itself placing her between them and his own people. He could see how being that bridge would be lonely, the pressure it brought when she shouldn't have been involved with his people at all. Venus was a soldier, she could be nothing more. A sad notion considering all he'd seen of her these past few hours.

"Avoiding questions again General?" She'd followed him, watched the deep exhale Kunzite allowed to escape his lips, a careful hand raking through his silver hair as he took a seat on the bench indeed warmed by the fire. He eyed Venus, her careful approach toward him to take a seat on the other side of the bench. It felt too small, their shoulders nearly touching.

"I simply didn't find it appropriate to engage in conversations about such intimate things. Forget I said anything." Kunzite avoided further explanation around any bit of their initial conversation, his grey eyes flickering through the tall flames of the fire to the Mauan's sitting on the stone steps of the terrace enjoying what appeared to be parfaits. Kunzite still didn't miss the antsy demeanor of Artemis, how his gaze would shift toward them in varying intervals.

"Didn't find it appropriate or do you just not understand?" His lips tensed in annoyance, wishing she'd just drop it. Venus shifted toward him as much as the small bench would allow. Kunzite had to try very hard to not pay any mind to how her leg became completely exposed from the hip down, and Venus didn't even seem to notice.

"Both." He grumbled, eyes falling flat with sudden need to get away from her for more reasons than he was comfortable with.

"Well you for instance... your rather sordid reputation with women. You may act as you please, take lovers as Venusians call it." He frowned, sighing tiredly when Venus didn't seem to want to let up on the conversation. Grey eyes shifted down at her without the courtesy of moving his head, lips tensed while she gazed up at him, blue eyes wide and curious.

"I don't love those women." He remarked, trying to pay more attention to how the diamond dust in the grasses shifted and stuck to the black leather of his boot than her unflawed skin bared so close to him that her bare leg nearly touched his. Kunzite cursed the realization of why these things might make her sad, the clarity of it all so obvious the way she spoke.

"On Venus when you take a lover it can be a casual occasion, or a repeated one with no emotional bonds. Love isn't limited to binding relations General, love is love and you can feel it for a moment or it can last eternities if it is powerful enough, and there is no power greater than that of true love. As a Venusian, relationships of all kinds are essential to our need for mental or physical stimulation. We are selective of who we allow close to us because toxic relations have no place in our lives, we have a need to feel love of some kind to thrive. Based on my roles here I have limited myself to kisses. Sometimes ardent touches but nothing beyond that."

Kunzite stared at her, Gods he knew he was staring but she hardly seemed real the way she spoke to him so casually, as though she'd known him forever. Even so they took turns keeping an eye on the people around them as though they were doing something wrong or engaging in more than conversation. It almost felt natural that way, her explanations further solidifying that Kunzite knew exactly why she acted the way she did.

"You kiss men to feel something." It became painfully obvious how close she sat to him, her own sadness stifling to him as though she knew he understood. Venus was lonely. For all the beautiful friends she had, her soldiers and the Princess she clearly loved more than life itself, she was lonely. Kunzite had such a conversation with Jadeite about this, a late night over too much bourbon about how nothing felt right, no matter how many women they entertained in their beds. That feeling Zara had told Kunzite he'd get never came, there was never anyone he loved more than Endymion. There was no one to make him question his resolutions against love or make it seem possible that he could have the real love of a woman in tandem with his loyalty to the crown. No woman alive to make him want her, and only her for the rest of his life. And then she spoke.

"Yes." Her voice was barely a whisper, her gold laced eyes locked onto his mouth and simply seething with a longing he tried not to feel tighten in his chest. Quickly coming back to reality himself, he watched her snap out of it, hands waving dramatically. "I mean Venusians aren't just a bunch of attention mongering, sex crazed people, we can LIVE without affection...Lips to my people are mostly a sensory organ used to speak intentions only we can feel and taste those intentions, the emotion behind them. Touch is almost a secondary requirement even if a kiss is a form of it." Kunzite could feel it again, stringing tighter between them and he knew they needed to be more careful now with such audiences that he not become so enamored by her or addicted to the tension he could physically feel.

"I would have never accused you to be such a thing. I think your status has been made something of a public affair. Odd considering who you are." Kunzite leaned back on his hands, hooking his fingers under the warmed bench finding his arm pressing against hers. He watched Jupiter and Mars a moment, sitting not far from them talking having been joined by Zoisite and Mercury. It was tragic really, her status to be this larger than life initiative to peace. No more tragic he assumed than his own internal battles against this tight grip Venus seemed to have on his thoughts. "I knew such intimacies were held sacred by the people of Venus. In my lands, love was more about possession, keeping women be it many wives or concubines separate in haremlik. It was said to be a sacred space but how many wives you hold often spoke of status."

"I don't think it's so odd. I was born to purpose, same as you General. Steps were only taken to shift some of those more distracting qualities in me toward that purpose." Venus laughed softly to herself. "I don't know how well it's worked since I still find myself wondering how things ended up the way they did. You seem to deny your own culture... you are older than I, far past marrying age. Do you have many wives?" Kunzite almost laughed, refraining of course because he found his restraint comforting, and stronger than ever now that she graced his life with so many challenges. Some professional and others certainly not.

"No. No wives. I find it gluttonous and disgusting. Women aren't things to collect but free creatures to come and go as they please. Fitting since men of my planet seem to do the same regardless of region. Of course not all look at women as equals but the weaker of our kind. Perhaps sometimes weaker in body but I have known strong minded women." He frowned, watching her lift her face toward the stars, brows furrowed in thoughts that looked almost painful. "Do you not find it odd that so many people fought to suppress the very nature of who you are?" Kunzite raised his brow, knowing he shouldn't speak so freely given some of those very people stood mere meters from where they sat, but it was insanity to him. They used a divine birth to manufacture something of their own design, and she seemed to have no problem being the product of it. But she did... and Kunzite could see it.

"Women are held in places of power in our Alliance obviously, I understand it isn't so on your world." He watched her profile silently, her eyes seeking solace in the flames in front of them. "You are a rare man of your planet to feel that way...I guess you had no more say in your own status than I had in mine. I..." She trailed off. It was there, pain flickered in her eyes a second before determination took over as though she delivered herself some self affirming advice. Kunzite found himself glad they were unable to forge her completely. Anyone could see that Venus had fallen into her duties with a grace all her own. It was present in her every interaction that evening, further complicating the puzzle of this girl that only frustrated him with no real reason for it.

"You seem to have a grasp on your duties, you wear them well." That frustration read well on his features more than likely, his face often needing deliverance from his self inflicted irritations. Kunzite shifted, trying to shift a little further away on the bench to no avail. It seemed to amuse her, though she regained composure and shifted back against the bench. Even so, he noted how she leaned ever so slightly against his arm, and remembered the Venusian's crave for touch. He swallowed hard, having such cravings himself though they had been less than innocent most of the time, and yet there was no scandal in it. Kunzite simply wanted to know her in ways he seldom wanted to know anyone, and it was infuriating.

"What about you? For all your reputations... has there been no one?" His face fell somewhat, watching the flames seem to lick the sky with effort to set the night on fire.

"No." Kunzite studied her face a moment then, before he stared back into the fire. It reminded him of home for some reason, maybe the dry warmth of it, or the company. Venus reminded him somewhat of Zara. A passionate woman, loving in her own way but fiercely independent. No one understood how years later he still mourned that old woman. That he should have written her, or taken that God forsaken trip back home to see her at least once more. "Well... there was a woman..."

"Oh?" Kunzite almost laughed at the utter acid behind the girl's voice, telling himself it was vanity that she sounded almost jealous.

"Not that kind of woman... she raised me." He took a deep breath, shifting his weight some on the arms he supported himself on that touched hers. She was warm, her scent offering him some comfort when he was feeling that sorrowful ache in his chest. "She was already too frail to join me in Elysium when I was summoned. I told myself I had time...and I scarcely wrote her before..."

"I'm sorry." Venus whispered, her apology cutting him off when it seemed he might get emotional. Kunzite was grateful, the girl seemed to understand him better than most and it made him long for her presence more, which also meant he found it highly alarming.

"No... I should be sorry. I am from Earth, and I'm on the Moon of all places gifted such hospitality and beautiful company. I should be thinking of happier times. It's just that death is the hardest part of life for Terrans...You never really get over it, it just becomes part of you."

"And you deny that what we are doing won't save your people from feeling the sadness you feel now?" Venus whispered, seeming to gauge the small party of their comrades gathered on the grass nearby the fire. "Did you tell her?"

"Did I tell her what?"

"That you love her?" He hadn't. Kunzite never said those words to anyone. Endymion hadn't had the courtesy of hearing those words of him and he loved that man more than the breath in his lungs. He always just assumed he knew. It broke his heart all over again, that he left Zara to die alone in that big sandy house. That she never knew just how important she was to him, that she was still just as important to him now. "She knew.. if you told her or not. People show love in a lot of ways. She knew."

Kunzite swallowed hard, feeling her smaller hand warm on top of his glove. It somehow meant more to him that it was the Goddess of Love herself to affirm his fears were in fact wrong. There was something in her eyes when he snapped his gaze to hers, somewhat surprised she was already watching him, but Kunzite fell lost to it, ready to drown if she'd let him. They were careless though, to be so stupid to stare into each other like that, for her to touch his hand, and lean into his arm the way she did was risky enough with the guarding Mauans and their group of friends laughing so nearby on the lawn. There was a want in her eyes, Kunzite was unsure of how to read it but whatever it was, he knew it wasn't his place to give it to her. The moment passed gratefully, her hand leaving his and Venus tore her gaze away for the sake of checking on Serenity.

"Her name was Zara...I think she very much would have liked you." He admitted, telling the truth really. He could almost picture the two lecturing him over something he'd said or done until he felt about a foot tall. He almost laughed at the scene they would have made, unsure if his temper would have had the capacity to bear the weight.

"Would you tell me about her?" Kunzite actually smiled a little, his lips growing fond with memory and he leaned into her arm just a little bit more.

"She was a slave. My father bought her when she was young and still beautiful... but he was cruel and mutilated her, marked her as his own so she would never be allowed to marry or see her family again." Venus' eyes were wide, Kunzite winced a little and his lips pursed into a tense line. "My countries were brutal lands you understand, Earth gained its reputation somehow and I fear my lands were partially to blame. My Father was a horrid Sultan, and worse human, which is why I took such strides to reverse the damage he'd done." Venus nodded, clearly wanting to ask questions, he could see them aching to escape her own tensed lips.

"That's... so sad.."

He'd just parted his lips to speak when beyond the fire, he could see Artemis striding hastily toward them, interrupting his thought. Kunzite sat up, his face becoming that hardened stoic mask once more at his approach. Clearly while everyone else had enjoyed dessert they'd taken perhaps a bit too much time in private conversation.

"Venus. Your shift is beginning soon, you'll want to change and begin your rounds." He didn't miss the hostility in his too green eyes, that air of a father protecting his daughter. Of course after her admission of rather playful kisses and touches made him wonder who Artemis was exactly protecting. Perhaps it was that age old disdain people of his status seemed to have toward Earthen people, either way the sentiment was taken and Venus did little to hide the anger behind her eyes.

"Forgive me General, I've appreciated your time. We'll hopefully be allowed to speak again before your departure." Her eyes were sadder now, full of promise and longing that Kunzite swallowed down hard in his politely offered nod. Venus shifted rapidly, her once soft and almost pleading blue eyes rapidly turning hostile when they directed back to her Guardian.

"Thank you again Lady Venus. Please extend our gratitude to your Queen as well, this evening was beautiful." He stood, offering a polite shallow bow before Kunzite strode toward Endymion who was still sitting on the lawn talking with Serenity, Jupiter and Mars. Zoisite and Mercury were curiously absent. "I'll be turning in for the night Endymion. I suggest you do the same soon, our meeting is quite early tomorrow." He didn't wait for his response, simply entered the palace and retraced their steps back the way they came, ignoring the romantic splendor the evening brought with a tensed frown.

Kunzite sat on his balcony staring up at Earth. It had been a very long time since he indulged like this but the bottle he had shared with Endymion earlier was still plenty full, and he sought to get drunk. The wine had been too sweet, too weak earlier to do much for him, but his bourbon was plenty strong. It was the only way he could currently think to deal with how much he liked and distrusted the Moon Goddess simultaneously, or the prejudice against his people he'd now experienced first hand, and gods the utter turmoil of Venus. Certainly there were more pressing matters on their own planet he should have been more concerned by.

Kunzite was left frustrated to say the least, having opened up only just slightly in hopes she'd be able to do the same before they were interrupted. He hadn't counted on her duties for the evening, but regardless he knocked back a long drink, sitting on one of the stone benches on his balcony with his back rest against outer wall. Clouds of his home swirling hypnotically over Earth left him content to stop thinking entirely.

The castle grew quiet, he knew it was late but the alcohol still burned in his veins and he lay in bed later unable to sleep. The atmosphere was too thin, his mind raced too much, and the bed was unfamiliar though not uncomfortable. Kunzite didn't bother to strap his sword to his hip or reattach his cape, he wouldn't need it at this hour along with those Goddess forsaken gloves. He walked quietly into the hall, pausing at the stairs that he knew lead up to her bedroom and wondered if she too was still awake. He'd walked up to the top of the pillar lined hall to see a vast balcony just at the top of the stairs, peering down the hall to a familiar set up. There were four doors but only one on the far side and three down the other with a huge library at the very opposite end of the hall. A fire was lit in there and he could hear Zoisite's hushed voice followed by a soft lilting one that he assumed was Mercury. The wing stood out by itself, lined with long balconies he noticed, forming a courtyard that faced where the inner sanctum was. Smart- so the Senshi's windows could face the royal's for security without violating privacy.

Kunzite headed back down the stairs, walking the halls like a phantom to see what each monochromatic room held. The palace was beautiful, for what it lacked in color it made up for in grandeur and intricate stone and crystal work. His mood darkened from his conversation with Endymion, the question of happiness and all that went with it. The only happiness he'd truly known was coming to Elysium, meeting the Shitennou and Endymion. His new family, his purpose. A purpose he was damn good at despite the various bad reputations he'd earned in the process.

He found the ballroom, stepping into its elegant grandeur as it was already decorated for a party. Gold plates and decorations in their honor. Kunzite had heard rumors of the impressive Moon Gala's and celebrations but in person he'd never seen so much wealth and utter elegance despite the darkness that no doubt covered some of it up. He stepped out onto a grand terrace attached through huge glass doors, disappointed when the air was thin and the breeze was artificial. He missed the fresh air of Earth and Kunzite couldn't tell if it was the alcohol buzzing through his system or if the Moon Kingdom seemed to glow softer under the cover of nightfall's late hour.

He would have missed the heavy damp air of his home more, but a flash of gold caught his attention and air became unnecessary. She was so easy to catch on this landscape of silver, dressed still in her gold dress and corset she'd greeted him in, her pale skin flashing with the gold of her gladiator sandals when her legs would emerge from the high slits in her gown. Venus was clearly on patrols with that harsh gait she held that allowed her dress to float around her in more lively ripples of silk. Ethereal was the only word he could find to describe her, all gold in a world of silver, unreal like she almost didn't belong there. He dared think her wild and erotic beauty was far more suited for the Elysian Kingdom of Gold- but again that was probably the drink talking. He frowned, his brain and body both straining itself and stretching against his alcohol laced self control. Kunzite's stare followed her across the lawn, watching her disappear in the distance, though something told him he would see her again soon.

"Can't sleep General?" Her voice was beside him before he could register it, leaning her elbows against the railing and peering out over the grounds she guarded. He shifted his eyes to her, not daring to move his head or he'd drown in rivers of gold. Her light floral scent invaded his senses and it was so much more potent without the fragrant air of his gardens and Kunzite could better pick out the notes of oranges and something like lillies or honeysuckle. Kunzite was most afraid he would drown in the pools of her big sad eyes, twisting something inside of him that had him praying he wouldn't be ill. Like he needed a reminder that she was caring, and understanding, and so utterly forbidden.

"I guess it's the shift in the atmosphere." He muttered, uncaring that his tone was bored and seemingly uninterested. He wished she'd go away, leave him to his miserable thoughts and fantasies the late hour often brought. For obvious reasons, it was easier to think when she wasn't around and Kunzite desperately needed to escape. To free himself of fascination, to find a way out of whatever arrangements might happen, to return life to what it was. But could he? Knowing she was up here in this land of white and silver, damned to a loveless life when she all but told him she needed that to survive? Like there was a thing he could do, and the alcohol clouding him helped nothing to sort his erratic and irrational thoughts. Venus mumbled an agreement that came out more like a hum as though she might sing. Her voice suggested she would have a glorious singing voice, and he almost asked her to accept he really needed her to go away.

"Today went well I think.. Queen Serenity was very pleased with the proactive moves on Endymion's part. She might even agree to the joining of Kingdom's through marriage eventually..." He shifted his pale grey stare back down to her she was bent down, peering between her arms at her sandal clad feet, her hair falling to block his view of her face by a thick curtain of her gold hair. Kunzite frowned then. It was unbearable to be in her presence, a sweet and addicting misery that was made torture by being in her presence and not seeing her face. It was frustrating beyond reason to want someone to leave you alone and yet be devastated by their absence. "Look, I need to apologize for Arte-"

"You never got to tell me your name." He finally looked at her, she'd lifted her head but her eyes were hard and staring over the grounds looking anywhere but back at him. Her lips tightened to a straight line and her brows were furrowed. Kunzite recognized that face all too well, it was his face when his soldiers looked at him. Hard, cold, and unfeeling. He would have been offended, but earlier before he'd clouded his mind with the sweet numbing nectar that pulsed through his blood, he'd tried to make conversation with her Mauan guardian. Artemis had been the perfect gentleman of course, the very image of diplomacy when he asked questions about the Sailor Guardians and obliged with answers to his questions about the Shitennou. They ended up having tea after Kunzite apologized for his blatant staring, he'd just never seen beings like him and his wife before. This was of course before that very Mauan interrupted their conversation after dinner with far less grace.

He'd specifically remembered to ask about the meanings of the Senshi's names- why they merely went by the names of their planets. Sure he and his men were named for stones from their regions but their place of origin was merely a part of their titles. Artemis explained that as a sign of their loyalty to the Silver Millenium, their given names would be forfeit to represent their planets of origin. Kunzite thought it was arrogant bullshit, but had accepted the explanation with the perfect air of a gentleman. Except with her. The very second that Artemis finished the explanation he was no longer just interested to know it but obsessed. It was cruel, to lift up someone to be some Goddess-like symbol of Love and yet deny her of it. To strip her very identity from her and have the audacity to say it was a proud honor in the name of her people. Maybe it was an honor for them- if so why did she look so sad always? Kunzite wondered if he looked this way to his men, mostly he knew that on a normal day he just looked bored. Or pissed.

"You may refer to me as Venus. My name is of no consequence Gener-"

"My name is Kunzite." He interrupted with some poor attempt to break the tension. He didn't understand why she just wouldn't tell him that he wasn't to know it. "There is no need to be so formal at two in the morning when both of our worlds and their rulers sleep." The urge to kiss her. That urge that had almost won over his steely nerves last he saw her was stifling when her eyes met his. He traced her long lashes with his eyes, the slope of her lightly freckle spattered nose and soft pink lips. Her neck was long and graceful and his intoxicated state allowed him to appreciate the generous and appealing swell of her breasts. Her corset fell beneath her bust in solid gold and the lace like patterns carved into it glittered in the dim light.

"I am no mere girl you can simply lure to your bed General. Don't forget that I know your reputations." His heart skipped at her playful smirk and she nudged his side for good measure. It made him smile when Venus finally dropped her carefully placed and closed off facade. They weren't strangers by any means now, forged from duty and locked together in forbidden activities that they'd stop if given the first chance of course. But he had a respect for the Venusian that he didn't have for most men. He didn't have to fight her to know she was a warrior, a fighter to the core.

"I wouldn't dare accuse you of being some mere girl Venus," He leaned on one elbow, turning slightly to face her better. "As I mentioned, people like us aren't afforded the luxury of falling in love and building lasting lives with our intended. As a soldier I wouldn't place the burden of my busy schedule, or the thought that I may never come home to our children, or a woman I may or may not even love. It is easier to relish a woman for a night of pleasure than a lifetime of worry."

"You restrain your happiness because you feel like your love is a burden?" Her brow raised, and Kunzite knew he was probably about to get a lecture about love from the young Goddess so he'd have to tread lightly. He'd never been a big believer in love, not that it didn't exist but that it was as rare as the golden pearl.

"Your Mother hears the prayers of every Terran on that planet to guide them to the other half of their soul. I have only ever asked for guidance on how a woman would fit at my side on the front lines of war. Or beside me as I guard Endymion during diplomatic occasions where a sniper strings his bow and I must shield him from the arrow. Or as I wander night after night across Elysian's grounds to find a poacher or assassin seeking to cause the royal family harm. Need I go on Venus?" He gave her a smirk, hoping it made sense. As Kunzite grew older, he knew his body would one day quit on him. He was supposed to bear a son- someone to take his place for the throne's next generation. He hoped Endymion would take up the Golden Crystal, but for Earth's own benefit. It would grant them long lives like the Senshi and he'd never have to leave Endymion's side for the cold claws of death. If war or illness didn't take him first.

"At least you are allowed to love if you wanted. I think your Prince would be happy to be rid of you for a moment." They both fell amused as it was probably true. "You also have three other capable men who would do all of those things for you, as well as Endymion. If a woman cannot love you through all of that and stand proudly at your side then she is no woman. Not one worthy of a King's affections." An adorable light flush crossed the bridge of her nose and she toyed with her hair sheepishly. Her words struck him, as no one had ever vocalized that his so called affections were worthy of much more than his body or the social status his title offered, and no one referenced him as a King anymore. He'd been ok with it until she said it that way, he felt uneasy with the notion that her words insinuated more than just a boost of confidence for his ego.

"You speak as though you are forbidden to love, that seems absurd." He raised his brow, knowing full well that he had read this somewhere, and Artemis confirmed it earlier. But would Venus herself reveal her emotions on the matter. It was after all absurd.

"I may fall in love- I just cannot be married. I just do not see a point in hurting myself that way. I am Venusian and when we fall in love... " Kunzite was met with those eyes when she finally looked at him. Those sad, too blue eyes. She seemed to struggle with words a moment, seeking to choke him with longing that had his fists clenching at his sides. "it's absolute. When it's truly love, we love with everything we are. Body and soul."

He wished there were words for the kind of beautiful that she was. Something so precious and rare that no man could fathom earning her affection. Something so wild he doubted there was a man in existence to tame her, and what a shame it would be to tame such a woman that was far more soldier than Princess. The beat between them was so heavy it was suffocating, a few seconds of gazing at her soft lips and longing eyes had him positively maddened. He became enraptured by the way the light hit her cheek and the gleam of her hair that looked like fine spun satin. He'd touched it once, thick and soft in his fingers but he'd never allowed more than the back of his hand to move it from her face. She turned from him suddenly, lowering her head to look at her hands on the railing, obstructing his view of her almost completely.

"The meeting is early.. you really should try to rest." She spoke softly behind her gold curtain and before he could think, he was pulling it away from her face. His fingers laced in it, thick and smooth when he pulled it behind her shoulder.

"It is you that seems to be averting questions tonight my Lady. I had hoped we could speak more..." She'd often made fun of him, his ability to get out of speaking on any subject he didn't want to discuss. It was a form of near flirtation for him, as well as escaping items he should not, or would not speak on. One of his finer talents.

"I'm afraid your questions are difficult for me to answer." Her voice faded, his fingers that had graced the luxury of her hair now trailed the smooth slope of her arm. Gods he wanted to wrap his fingers around it, pull her to him and kiss away the worry in her eyes. His logical side would always win to these silly wants- he saved those wants for the loose women of taverns and stupid young girls who sought to gain status. Those silly wants were for trivial things that didn't matter. His logical side told him to run- that Venus was no trivial matter. That she in fact was a want he shouldn't have. Any further action a drunken mistake he'd pay dearly for later. "I'd very much like to talk more... but given the hour..."

"Matters of the heart I understand the strain of discussing, but your name is hardly a difficult question my Princess." His hand found hers on the way down her arm, it was warm and small in his own. Soft but there were telling light calluses on her palm and he wondered if she could wield a sword. Her eyes were wide as though she knew how badly his body ached for her. The way her very appearance made men mad with desire and yet it was different for him. She was everything he could never have, that no man would ever touch. Venus was a challenge in every way and he could not control it the way he could control everything else which was maddening. He wondered as he lifted her hand to his lips, the way her breath caught when they touched and perhaps lingered too long to be appropriate so he could inhale her skin and relish the warmth, if his ironclad resolve could withstand the wrath of her. "Goodnight Venus."

Kunzite hesitated in releasing her hand, Venus seemed dumbstruck by his actions and he couldn't blame her. It was wrath- her beauty, her wild nature, her kindness, her wit, her utter fascination with everything, the way she hid behind practiced smiles and acted so calm when he could see her sadness. He frowned on the way back to his room, his body reacting in ways his mind knew was not acceptable. He didn't love her, it was lust- pure and simple. Lust brought out by the alcohol he'd told himself once more he should cut back on. By now he felt completely sober, it was easier to blame that than admit that she'd dented his armor in ways no one ever had. Not even Endymion.

Kunzite ripped and clawed at his own clothes on the way to the lush bathroom in his rooms where he cranked the cold water and stepped in. Venus was hazardous to his health, he decided, the need to stay away becoming not an item up for negotiation. It took way too much effort to calm his body down before he could fall asleep, seeing red at his own stupidity. If he could just get through the next two days...Serenity and Endymion's foolish, but very real love affair was to blame, and all they could do now was try to see it through. Venus was a soldier, nothing more. It would just have to be enough.


	10. Chapter 10

"Curse you and your damned stars Nephrite..." Kunzite groaned, blanching at the throbbing pain in his temple and behind his eyes upon waking. It was still mostly dark, though the faint light the morning offered was enough to worsen the symptoms of the hangover he knew he'd asked for when he polished off the rest of that bottle. It couldn't have been more than four hours since he left her standing on that balcony, no doubt dumbfounded by his brazen actions, fueled by desire and too much bourbon burning in his blood. He found himself equally baffled by his behavior, not so baffled that his head wasn't the only thing of his throbbing that morning.

With a groan he turned on his back, glaring at the canopy above his head in anger. Kunzite kept finding himself disarmed, and sending mixed signals when he should have held steady and kept his mouth shut and lips to himself. But there was something strange about the pull he felt, that draw toward her that felt uncontrollable and wild. Something terrifying about it that she herself embodied that appeared almost chaotic and undefined. He almost wished Zara would come bursting through his door to wake him, if he could only ask her what it meant. A silent predator.

He didn't consider himself daft, dull, or stupid. Stubborn of course, but certainly no expert of keen sovereign of any emotion. Emotions were weakness and vulnerability to a man like himself who knew beyond a doubt that emotions and curiosity only landed you in pain, or in compromising positions with no way out. It was easy enough in solitude to reinforce his own ideals, but when Venus was near him she could tear that armor down with a mere glance. She had a way of stripping his propriety away without trying, that dangerous chaos about her that terrified, and pulled him in with her every sweet sentiment and playful quirk. That shallow part of him that was utterly Terran male was still poleaxed by her beauty, and struggling to recover. Kunzite growled to himself, raking a hand down his face he threw back the covers. Thinking about her was doing nothing for him, or the agitated state of his body.

"We're too different..." He muttered aloud, scoffing that he was talking to himself at all. "Comrades in this lunacy and worlds apart..." His fingers ran through the length of his silver hair, heaving a heavy sigh through his lips. "You only want her because you cannot have her...you fool." He muttered, rolling his eyes to the ceiling while he stretched. Because there was no denying that he wanted her, only that he wanted more than something of the physical realm.

It was dangerous, taboo, and against everything he stood for. A compromise to his oaths and beliefs he refused to cave into because there wasn't room for it. Venus held the Solar System on her shoulders, placed on a pedestal where no one could touch her, especially no mere Earthen man like himself. He'd defied love to the stars, and love incarnate, more beautiful than any being of any realm, seemed dead set to test his will no matter how forbidden to him she was. He should feel fortunate to have even seen her likeness, but Kunzite was no man to grovel at the mercy of a deity.

Yes, love was a child's dream left in a sandy old palace, in the hands of an old woman with fire in her kind, coal black eyes. A dream snuffed out by illness and old age, a Terran's curse that Love would never fall victim to, because she was divine and immortal. And he did not, and could not love her. That idea slipped through his fingers like the sands of his home. Try as he may to comprehend it, Kunzite had never been able to grasp it or feel so strongly for anyone. He'd known love but it wasn't his place to offer it to a woman like Venus. He'd insult her with his inexperience, his ingenuine faith in such emotions, and neither were in a place of status to allow it.

Dismal as his mood was turning, like the hangover wasn't enough, Kunzite started becoming desperate for coffee. He was a creature of habit after all and while routine was momentarily interrupted, it hadn't halted completely. In efforts to keep himself occupied until time came for him to gather Endymion and Zoisite for the meeting, he laid out his formal uniform for the ball later to air out any potential wrinkles. It was a finer fabric than the more sturdy garment of his daily one, it's care a bit more demanding. He'd just laid out his boots when someone knocked on the door and Kunzite almost praised Queen Serenity herself when the scent of coffee hit him through the door.

"Good Morning Commander." He was greeted with another beautiful face, one of the many Lunarian women in service to the Queen who carried a silver tray of breakfast sweets and coffee. She was cheerful, if not a bit taken aback when Kunzite took the tray from her hands himself.

"Thank you Miss." He offered politely as he could with the pounding drums in his ears. Truly Kunzite was in no mood for company, and yet the girl stared rather blatantly at him, her cheeks flushing in unhidden admiration.

"I've woken Prince Endymion and General Zoisite as well. The Prince asked that you join him before the meeting this morning." He nodded politely in acknowledgement of her words, yet the girl stood there awkwardly staring as though she meant to speak more.

"Is that all?" His tone wasn't pleasant, it was biting and annoyed and miserably hungover, tortured by errant thought and lack of sleep. The girl startled, and brazenly giggled, eyes brimming with curiosity. It might have even been endearing or charming had his thoughts not been so clouded by another, but not even the nymph-like girls of the Moon compared, they were too soft where Kunzite craved that edge.

"Yes General, perhaps I'll see you at the ball later." He shouldn't have been surprised how bold she was knowing Princess Serenity had often acted a bit too carefree herself, but the girl bowed respectfully and had the decency to at least try to hide the mirth in her eyes.

"Thank you then, I'll report accordingly." His brow raised in borderline annoyance, watching her flush further before turning on her heel to escape rather briskly down the hall. He shook his head, kicking the door shut with his boot, carefully turn to set the tray down on a table beside the fireplace, plopping in the chair beside it.

The caffeine was the perfect medicine for the relentless hangover, and when he went to select one of the pastries, Kunzite noticed a small white card that simply read "With Love, from Jupiter" in pretty green scroll. He frowned while he slowly chewed perhaps the best sticky bun he'd ever eaten in his life, with the knee jerk reaction to pack up the rest and bring them to Nephrite. Against his better judgment, Kunzite did just that, wrapping them carefully in the provided container like the Jovian had done this on purpose.

"These Goddesses are getting the better of you..." He muttered to himself, packing the container away with a sentiment completely out of character for him. The Senshi were all special in their own right, even he could see that, and he needed to remind himself once more to not be so fast to trust them. The meeting today would give him the information he needed to start planning, and preparing for the repercussions it would have on the people of Earth. His greatest fear, rebellion. His biggest hope... he dared not even think it.

Instead, Kunzite shook off the sense of foreboding, snatching his gloves from the bedside table with a sigh, he lifted his chin, held his shoulders back and stepped from the room with the air of a Commander. Hangover be damned, he had to meet Endymion and Zoisite before they were late to the meeting, his expression hard in refusal to let anyone know of his inner turmoil. Especially not his empathic Prince, and seemingly psychic third General he'd gratefully left at home.

It wasn't long before he found himself in the same conference room that was too bright, the harsh light from the tall windows burning his eyes and he found himself internally screaming for more coffee. Endymion and Zoisite certainly weren't faring much better though he could guess in his Prince's case, the reasoning was far from proper. Venus was the last to file in, flushing lightly at her tardiness she shuffled in to take her seat beside the Queen. Kunzite didn't miss that fatherly look Artemis gave her, distaste on his lips and hard look of his eye that didn't seem to phase her much, she looked too tired. Venus looked utterly drained, dark circles under her hooded eyes, and skin paler than normal. It dawned on him that she'd greeted them the previous morning- and had yet to sleep. He'd been in her shoes more times than he could count and Kunzite frowned, fiddling with a pen in front of him in distraction as Queen Serenity began the meeting.

The Silver Queen hadn't come to a full on agreement, not that he expected anything monumental of this occasion. The travel ban was lifted, heavily restricted of course with permissions being needed both ways and guard detail that made sense considering their relationship. Of course Kunzite had the people of Earth to consider in this arrangement, knowing to some it would be cause for panic, he would have rather had it left forbidden. The pending trade agreements interested him however, and Queen Serenity even agreed that if the day came that Endymion could wield the Golden Crystal she would consider aligning their Kingdoms by marriage. Without the distracting gaze of Venus, Kunzite was able to take detailed notes and bullet points only he would know needed further delicate care when Earth's people were involved and found his lips tensed in that frown he was so well known for.

It changed nothing of their current predicament. Her Senshi were off limits, Endymion's affair still very forbidden, and his agreement with the Venusian was assumed to stand in regards to protecting it. Kunzite glanced at Venus, she seemed too tired to play her games this morning and stared blankly at the table in front of her. His lips tensed, knowing he would have to help her keep this contained until they found a way to get that alleged Pegasus creature to appear to Endymion, and reveal the Golden Crystal. If it even truly existed. The Prince agreed to Queen Serenity's terms of course, producing the parchment their King had drawn for him granting Endymion the authority to act on behalf of Elysium. For what it was, it was a small step forward, but a vast victory when it came to the Earth's Golden Throne. Kunzite knew King Adrian would be proud.

"Now. I should like to see your Generals in action on the battleground Endymion, I might extend those travel agreements in regards to training. If I like what I see perhaps we can come to another agreement that my Senshi will train you and your Shitennou in ways of magic, if they agree to train the Senshi in combat. I'm afraid they rely too much on their magics, and it could escalate our other agreement, as well as your progress toward the Golden Crystal. And toward our ultimate alliance."

Kunzite's eyes widened, immediately locking with Venus who appeared just as shocked. It was a strange turn of events, the notion that their secret arrangements would soon commingle with potential training together, and the progressive hope that came with Endymion receiving help in reaching his own potential was highly unexpected. Venus had mentioned it once in private, that they could help them strengthen their abilities and yet to hear it from the mouth of the Queen herself sounded all too suspicious. His brain had officially shifted into overdrive, standing as they were ushered from the room by Queen Serenity's gracefully gesturing hand. There was no failing Endymion in this, as Venus suggested they were all in or all out, a term of their unspoken agreement the moment she confirmed the power of the supposed link between Endymion and Serenity. He remembered all too well how ill the Prince had become.

Typical of Kunzite, anger was the best served emotion for the situation and one he had to fight to suppress. It was likely to him the Queen Serenity was just waiting out their shorter lives, only ever planning to give them this inch to work with. There was no secret to the amount of power Endymion would need to wield that Crystal, and how little of it he could actually access. Queen Serenity was grossly underestimating Endymion and how relentless he could be when it came to something he wanted to achieve. Power was a very small motivator in comparison to the obvious love he felt for the small rabbit of a Princess. Ready to blow off some much needed steam, Kunzite was almost too glad to sate the Queen's request for a combat demonstration. They were ushered from the stiff, rather elegant conference room, Princess Serenity waiting anxiously for them in the hallway to hear the news.

He filed behind them all with Zoisite, Venus between them and the royalty, the only noise in the following tense silence was the conversation held was between Endymion and the two bun haired Goddesses. Zoisite almost snorted, watching with amusement when Venus slapped the joined hands of the Prince and Princess carefully concealed behind Endymion's cape. His green eyes drifted up toward Kunzite with a sobering cough into his glove when he saw that Kunzite wasn't nearly as amused. He'd blame the hangover for his abrasive mood when truly there were too many reasons to count, and Kunzite easily lost count of how many involved the blonde soldier in the short orange skirt walking just in front of him. He tried to ignore her, thankful that she seemed to do the same, yet he walked directly in the trail of her perfume, the beams of light from tall windows flickered gold across her hair, and so the Venusian's torment of him remained relentless and distracting.

They stepped out into a large wooden arena, it might as well have been made of gold for how rare the material was on this planet of silver dust and starlight. He and Zoisite branched off while the rest of their party took their place in the front row spectator box. The arena was clearly well used, scorch marks of different kinds marked areas near training dummies, telling signs of wear on the dusty ground itself with footprints and more scorch marks. Zoisite followed him nervously over to the waiting weapon rack, full of different dulled instruments for training purposes only.

"You're in a mood. Try not to kill me with a blunted sword?" Zoi raised a brow, appraising the weapons in the rack and selecting a short sword to test the weight. He had that snooty aristocratic frown on his lips, eyes shifting up to Kunzite as he selected a larger broadsword.

"Sure that's a wise choice?" Kunzite gave the shorter soldier a look, Zoisite scoffing with a few graceful test swings of his weapon. Jadeite had a bit of jealousy that he'd favored Zoisite since the beginning, mostly because he'd been so young back then. Scared and naive, being thrust into this life with little more than facts and education and no experience. Kunzite related to him, and sought to be the mentor for Zoisite that he never had. "I won't land any damaging blows if that's what you're worried about."

"I would have thought you'd have made a wiser choice in your own selection Commander." Zoi bit back in that sarcastic manner when he used his titles. He was a brat, but his well meant taunting lifted Kunzite's spirit enough that he smirked back at him. "You'll be too slow for me with that thing."

"If you say so." The two shook hands, Zoi scoffing once more, falling into a fighting stance both eager as ever to spar. The broadsword felt a bit off balance, but it always felt that way in his left hand. Kunzite considered switching to his right, knowing Zoisite would have no chance, but decided it was a show the Queen wanted, and so he would provide one.

A loud whistle rang in the air, and Zoisite charged. Kunzite was proud, knowing under most circumstances he was right. Being smaller than him, faster, far smarter, and with a lighter weapon in hand might have been effective against a normal soldier. He had experience with this though, the jabs Zoisite was able to land impressed, but were nothing compared to the threat of a real blade, or several. He had been very intimate with the blade of a broadsword, the only time he'd ever nearly tasted death, his injury was incentive enough to perfect his skill with one. Kunzite allowed his frustrations to come out in full force, remaining controlled and agile enough to not land damaging blows to Zoisite, but take him off guard with maneuvers he himself had faced once upon a time, moves that had almost killed him. He'd taught himself to use his cape in battle, to create illusions that he wasn't really armed, or distract his opponent. It wouldn't work on Zoi, but regardless he grew smug when he finally knocked him down to the dusty ground, his practice sword held lightly against his throat.

"Ugh... fine I concede." Zoisite slapped the ground lightly with a roll of his green eyes, his tone dissolving into a mirthful smile when Kunzite offered his hand to help him up. Applause burst from the spectators box, Zoi taking the moment to provide them an overly enthusiastic bow that had Kunzite's eyes greeting the skies above them. He tapped Zoi's shoulder with a well meant glare, as their demonstration hadn't ended.

"Thought I taught you not to underestimate your opponent." Zoi rolled his eyes at the paternal scolding, and took position to run through drills.

"I only thought maybe you wanted to look good in front of the Venusian."

"I believe it's the Queen we are trying to earn favor from. You'll put that other thought out of your head." They began working through their normal routine, conversation thankfully becoming more difficult.

"Well, you two aren't very discrete." Kunzite jabbed him a bit harder than he normally would have with a hardened look. Zoisite grunted, glaring back and dodging the next one meant for his stomach.

"Neither are you with the Mercurian. You'll do well to knock that off by the way." Zoi laughed and rolled his eyes again. "We were merely discussing business."

"Yeah sure KUNZIE." Kunzite blanched at the nickname and swung full force toward the younger man's face, glad he managed to dodge in the end. "That's what I've been working on too you know, and watch the face." Since he certainly couldn't punch the Princess for that nickname- he'd be sure to inflict the pain on Endymion later. When the applause came again after a thorough drill demonstration, Zoisite offered his commander a dry smile that had Kunzite's grey eyes drifting skyward yet again. "Maybe Jade's right, you need to get-" He slapped his shoulder hard before he could finish that sentence, kicking up just enough dust to make Zoi cough.

"General Kunzite, I would like to see how well you fare against our own brightest warrior now. Venus if you would?" The Queen called out, earning Kunzite a knowing look from the younger soldier at his side and interrupting their typical antics. He felt a thrill really, nodding a proud dismissal to Zoi to join the others while Venus stepped forward and out onto the ring. He'd finally be able to witness her skill, the great and wrathful Sailor Venus, if he could get passed everything else about her toiling inside of him. Kunzite was a bit overly confident because she was much smaller in comparison to himself, also knowing he could not underestimate her. Like he needed another reason for this golden warrior to haunt him. "Don't worry General, Venus has proven to hold her own. Do not feel the need to hold back."

"Apologies General, I hadn't prepared myself for this. The Queen gets a little excited sometimes." She muttered, clearly unpleased by the Queen's request. Kunzite waited for her to choose a weapon, rather shocked when she merely took a fighting stance in wait for the whistle, still smug and dare he say excited about the fight to come. He swallowed hard, trying to keep the shock from his features when he felt her power intensify raising every hair on his body. The chain she always wore around her hips moved and came to life seemingly on its own and that gorgeous face of hers hardened, the gold flecks of her eyes seeming to spread into the blue like veins of molten light.

Kunzite hadn't counted that she'd use magic. His stomach clenched with nerves and excitement when that loud whistle rang out and Venus came to life, seemingly almost glowing with magics. The way she sprung to action was like nothing he'd ever seen. Her movements were graceful, almost like a dance, and equally seductive as he'd heard was the fighting style of her people. She held the power of a Jovian, the passion and relentlessness of a Martian, the tactical skills of a Mercurian, and the playfulness of Lunarian. Her chain clashed against his sword with bone shaking force, and though Kunzite knew she held herself back, the match was surprisingly brutal.

Her chain appeared to move with a mind of it's own though Kunzite knew she had to be manipulating it by some power of her own mind and became impressed with even himself as he adapted, and was able to parry her movements. The real challenge was to keep his focus on her chain and not the girl in question who still jabbed and kicked at him with fluid and graceful movements. Her chain wove around her with such precision, and in small moments he'd catch her smile, all dark and dangerous, but beautiful and wild as Hell. Her blows however were impressive, and Kunzite enjoyed every second of it.

Finally, as both were growing tired and winded, Venus laughed a little, shooting a beam of light from her finger just over his shoulder. Kunzite could feel the heat of it on his cheek and for a split second became terrified by the raw power from the golden magic, just long enough for her chain to crack into his hand, sending his sword flying off to the side. It was fine, however he was fast to recover, refusing to be disarmed by her off the battlefield as well as on it. He swiftly dodged her next blow, rolling toward her so his shoulder slammed hard into her stomach and Venus fell hard to the dust below. She grunted as the air whooshed from her lungs, and in a swift but very careful movement, Kunzite pulled the very real short sword from its sheath and aimed it down at her breast.

He had her pinned between his knees, both straining for breath through parted lips. Her eyes were so blue when they met his, not even concerned or regarding the blade primed for blood aimed delicately at her breast. Venus licked her lips distractingly, her chest heaving beneath him, staring so intensely back at him that Kunzite found himself unable to look away. There was something so intimate about the moment, the way her golden hair sprawled across the silver diamond dust on the ground, the way her eyes seemingly sought out his very soul.

He was slow to sheath his sword, removing the weapon from the equation in victory when he felt her hand slide up his leg to rest on his thigh. The light caress was enough to completely shatter any mask of stoicism he'd prided himself on, the strangled gasp that managed to sneak passed his lips, the look of shock in his wide grey eyes should have embarrassed him. Kunzite could only swallow it down hard when her lips twisted into something utterly nerve wracking.

He'd been prepared to stand, to hop to his feet like he was on fire, but it all happened too fast for him to comprehend. Surely now he understood that the sensation of falling wasn't just limited to metaphors. Her hips bucked harshly against his with an exquisite and fluid motion, her fingers gripping and curling around his thigh releasing only when she had him on his back. It happened so fast that he was only vaguely aware how she almost stood, shifting as her hand reached above them, bringing a sword down into the dirt by his head. Kunzite found himself pinned beneath her hips that straddled his own almost suggestively.

Fear: the only thing keeping his body from instantly reacting to her meager leotard pressing with such warm intimacy against him. He was too busy staring at the crystalline blade embedded into the dirt by his face. The power it radiated was overwhelming, a suitable weapon for her as the wrath it insinuated was as intimidating as it's beauty. The blade was made of translucent crystal that cast rainbows across the already glittering ground, catching light like a prism. His eyes trailed up to the intricate golden hilt that was inlaid with varying colored crystals and crescent Moons. Finally his grey clashed with blue when it met Venus' brilliantly smiling face.

"I hadn't conceded General." Venus practically purred down at him with a wink, her tone almost as scandalous as her position on top of him, her lips parted for breath and too inviting for Kunzite to comprehend much else. Left astounded by the generous piece of his resolve Venus managed to chip away in the matter of seconds, leaving so much about his errant thought of that morning so much harder to deny. The sword appeared to de-materialize out of thin air, though Kunzite felt more content to just stare into her, leaving Zoisite to ask the billion questions he probably had later about what the heck just happened. His jaw tensed, mostly because without the element of fear on his side his body had realized their position and quickly caught up with his brain. It took a moment longer, he'd been too busy reeling from the air she'd stolen from his lungs, but Kunzite slapped the ground twice in concession.

"Well I concede, Venus."

His voice was only a breath really, certain her eyes darkened, and his expression became as predatory as her own. She'd been more than a formidable opponent, certain he'd spend the coming days painfully dissecting every moment of their sparring match. Surely those moments of flirtation were merely moments highlighting his own shortcomings, moments she could have killed him without breaking a sweat. Or Kunzite would get caught up in moments like this where he'd watch her chest heave, becoming hypnotized by a bead of sweat the creeped down her neck toward the deep v of her uniform, breathing hard through parted lips and too blue eyes that locked onto his own mouth in minute distraction. He swore she'd even shifted her hips against his with the smallest exhale that rose panic in him for no reason other than the Queen mere feet away in audience.

Gaining a modicum of sanity, Kunzite sat up on his elbows, his fingers accidentally brushing her leg causing the girl to jump off of him as though he'd burned her. The applause from the spectators box was deafening, drowning the hard breath she took as though she realized suddenly there were other people present. Venus extended her hand to help him to his feet, which he accepted with the smallest, darkest little smile of his own. Kunzite found his body still reeling from his recent contact with her, and the magic she was clearly forged by. It only served for all that frustration he'd let out battling Zoisite to come crashing back over him with a greater vengeance.

"Endymion your guard is most impressive!" Serenity exclaimed with child like excitement, placing a hand on the Prince's arm. "There are fewer than you know in existence that can resist, let alone best our Venus."

"To her credit, I think my General has met his match." Kunzite's eyes widened at Endymion's so bold accusation, and the grin he cast over his shoulder at him was wolfish and mischievous as ever. Queen Serenity began to usher the Prince, Princess, and his still slack jawed younger General inside with wishes that they all rest some before the ball that night. Eyeing Venus in particular when she addressed the two dusty soldiers still on the arena grounds to do the same, and he remembered again that Venus still hadn't slept.

"Where did you learn to fight like that?" Kunzite had only been very aware that she hadn't followed her Queen and Princess, lingering at his side and staring at him with her head tilted and wide, curious beautiful eyes. He'd hoped she would have left, leaving him to deal with his frustrations alone.

"When one is given an army at a very young age, born in brutal lands, you learn very quickly to fight. If nothing else than for survival." He muttered, brushing some of the sparkling grey dust from his uniform, allowing it to float on the air like glitter and Kunzite began his own slow walk inside.

"How young were you?" Venus asked softly, falling into an easy stride beside him. She too was comically dusty and dirty. Her gold hair wild from where she'd tried to rid the dust from it with her fingers.

"Six." He kept his eyes ahead of him, not looking down at her. It was enough to see her from his peripheral glancing up at him with wide eyed curiosity. "My parents perished early. As mentioned, Zara raised me. It was hardly the age to give a child a crown." Kunzite allowed her this information, not caring to elaborate because it didn't matter the manner with which they died. For a boy who never knew his mother and lost his Tyrant father that young, all that mattered was they were dead. He only glanced down at her when her glove brushed his, taking this as an understanding gesture since she didn't look back at him, leaving the silence heavy between them.

Halfway back to his rooms he almost asked her why she followed him, remembering like an idiot that the rooms he borrowed were so conveniently on the way to her own. It was followed by an endless stream of other questions that piled up uselessly behind his teeth. Questions that, as usual, Kunzite swallowed down in favor for the peaceful quiet that lingered eerily throughout the halls. The Moon palace was almost too silent, calm, and seemingly barren though if he had to guess the main halls were bustling in preparations. He lifted his chin to observe the skylights above them, feeling oddly more at ease the more often her hand or arm brushed his own. It felt eerily right.

Her silence continued, saying nothing in her departure for the stairs that lead up to the Senshi's wing, and he frowned to think that their silence made whatever happened between them on that dusty training ground worse. Kunzite watched a short moment, the Moon's light that made everything appear softer and more serene washed over her battle worn and dusty figure. The bare skin of her legs and arms were marred with dirt from their match, her gold hair matted against the sweat of her forehead and tangled long hair over her shoulder. She was glorious, and it infuriated Kunzite. Infuriated him that she held something over him that he could neither deny or control at this point, Venus saw fit to rip that away every chance she got. He'd felt the grip of magic now and was surprised, and more enraged to find that she had in fact, not cast any spell over him.

"What is your name?" His voice was loud when it erupted from his throat, maybe more demanding than intended. It echoed through the open and empty halls and her whole body stiffened and stopped in its tracks from the sound. Venus turned slowly, keeping a gloved hand on the railing and regarding him with those soft eyes that somehow weren't sad like they normally were in this instance, but almost amused if not exhausted.

"I'll save a dance for you General." She gave that smile, both knowing and seductive, biting her lip the way she often did before turning with a quick saunter up the stairs and away from his view. Kunzite frowned, practically slamming the door of his borrowed rooms in frustration, fighting the urge to follow the girl to further demand an answer as though he had any right to the information. He scoffed, shaking his head at his own audacity while he pulled out his other cape, reserved for more formal occasions, to join the rest of the uniform he'd laid out that morning. After a few deep breaths he'd calmed down, moving to remove his dusty uniform for a shower when he noticed the glint of gold on his bed.

Much like the person that left the package, it stood out. A gold box against the white and silver shades of his room and neatly tied with a red ribbon. He flung his dust covered shirt in a separate bag to be cleaned and lifted it slowly, inspecting it with hesitant grey eyes. Raking fingers through his hair, he hesitantly pulled on the ribbon with a slow tug, heart pounding as it was no question who had left the small token on his bed. The box opened to reveal a pair of extraordinary cape clasps, a stark polished and intricately carved silver and inlaid with large blue kunzite stones, further accented by the more common pink shade from his home lands. Kunzite couldn't help but smile at the small and beautiful gift, laying them carefully on top of his folded cape he noted that the colored stones looked beautiful against the fabric, and blue satin of its lining.

He almost discarded the box except a folded piece of red stationary flipped up without the weight of the gift on top of it. Kunzite swallowed hard, setting the box down to carefully unfold the note. The red paper was fragranced with honeysuckle, and the stationary was purely Venusian with the planetary symbol for the planet embossed in gold and filligery. Most importantly there weren't a lot of flowery words or proper and diplomatic writing. The paper was empty except a large well drawn heart in the center with one word written in beautiful scroll: Mina.

Her name is Mina.

Kunzite stared thoughtfully at the paper in his fingers for a few moments, frowning as he tossed it into the fireplace. He couldn't be too cautious, unsure what the repercussions would be were he found with it, or what would happen to her for even writing it. Complete distraction followed his routine as he showered and dressed, his mind racing with the intent behind the gift and so precious and coveted information. How many beings in existence knew Love's name? And why did she see fit to cave into his desires to know it?

There was power in a name after all, Kunzite was living proof of this. Had his Mother not gifted him the name of such a soul stone he would not stand breathing now. That all too knowing look she'd given him made perfect sense and yet Kunzite wasn't sure how to take the gift, unsure when the last time anyone gifted anything to him. He was certainly undeserving of it, guilty for being so demanding for the information he by all rights shouldn't have. Where Kunzite thought it would sate his infatuations, it only served to fan the fire.

The clasps added quite a bit to the more formal uniform, grey and embroidered with a darker silver thread, white cape lined with an Elysian blue satin and perfectly polished boots. He dared to think they might add to his every day mundane uniform as well, because for the first time in many years, Kunzite felt like a King. He'd considered tying his silver hair back, opting to leave it long to the center of his back, displaying the pale kunzite spears adorning his ears. Even now he left the top three buttons on his formal tunic opened, and dared Endymion to say a word about it. It didn't matter because all he could think was her name. It repeated in his every heartbeat, his every exhale an attempt to not feel all that had built up over the weeks in the smallest of moments that now echoed with her name. It wrapped around him like the gold ring he'd snuck onto his pinky beneath his perfect white gloves.

A Kunzite stepped into his Prince's room, Zoisite already there dressed in his white coat embroidered with shining green thread, his hair tied back by a matching ribbon but it did little to tame the careless curls of his strawberry blonde hair. Endymion was decked in his formal armor, jewels and golden accents bringing out the blue and black of his garb and intensely blue eyes. Appraising Kunzite through his mirror a moment while he secured his own cape to his shoulders, and the Prince smiled at the leading Shitennou, excitement brimming in his perfect dimpled smile.

"Looking sharp Kunzite. Those cape clasps are a nice touch." Endymion's grin was almost knowing and yet he wasn't sure how. Sometimes Kunzite assumed the Prince was a mind reader. He knew the magic he did possess made him extremely empathic and almost gave him the satisfaction of a smart assed retort. Mostly, Endymion was just sometimes overly observant, and knew that Kunzite would have never sought out anything as ostentatious as jewels, despite the earrings he insisted on wearing.

"I'll just be glad when this is all over." He muttered instead, leaning against the bedpost beside Zoisite who was perched on the mattress with a book. For the most part it was true, Kunzite was ready to resume his post on Earth, with real gravity and oxygen and away from temptations that were certain to land him in an early grave. Everything felt so much harder without the strains of his duties to distract him.

"Lighten up! Aside from the whole teleporting thing this has been a lot of fun." Endymion was grinning at Zoisite who'd spoken up, closing his chosen reading and adjusting his already messy ponytail in another mirror near the bed. His unruly curls were, as always, working in his favor in an utterly carelessly handsome sort of fashion. "It's not every day we get to mingle with Goddesses and Silver Alliance Diplomats. Mercury has taught me all kinds of stuff guys- if nothing else that has been beneficial. I'll have a lot of work to do when we return, but tonight's for dancing."

Even Zoisite was grinning like a fool, and if Kunzite remembered the youngest Shitennou was not very experienced with women, or graceful dancer though not completely hopeless. Surprisingly Jadeite had been the one to teach Endymion that art, something that worked in Zoi's favor during their regular spats. Nephrite was a lost cause on his feet and the clumsy oaf would either step on the poor girls feet or trip himself on her dress, bonus points when he ripped the hem. Ask him to battle and he was graceful as a swan. It didn't make sense.

"Beneficial is an interesting way of putting it Zoisite. You aren't sleeping with the Mercurian already are you?" Kunzite's heavy stare was always enough to send Zoi stuttering and he turned a bright shade of red. It was also well known the young General was not a fan of the Silver Alliance's politics, where he was so enthusiastic about it suddenly.

"NO, no- I mean we've kissed, but we're just friends! It couldn't have meant that much." Kunzite could only roll his pale grey eyes and shake his head with a deep frown as Zoisite became distanced, so endearingly leaning into his arm.

"Zoi you barely look at other women let alone kiss them. We are going to have a serious conversation about the mingling going on in our ranks." He rubbed his temple, affectionately wrapping his free arm over Zoisite's shoulder. Wrong or not, the youngest of them was clearly suffering some form of blissful torment under the wrath of one of these Goddesses. A torment Kunzite was only all too familiar with at this point, not that he'd ever give that away. He was sympathetic to Zoisite, still young and brilliant but naive all the same but Kunzite was no more versed in the realms of love than the virtuous young King. He and Zoi both snapped to attention, only looking up when Endymion chuckled lightly in front of them, clearly not taking this seriously.

"Well hopefully we don't have to walk on eggshells too much longer. I think we're finally on the right path for Earth to take its rightful place in this Alliance... and I have loved Serenity since I first met her. The union of our Kingdoms will be just an added perk." Endymion assessed his men's appearance with a proud smile, odd to Kunzite since he was the eldest of them. He mirrored that pride though. He might not have been on board with this mission, still had his doubts even, but knew they were all in too deep at this point for things to ever return to normal again. Endymion treaded forward without fear, decisive as a King should be, and Kunzite even dared to blame his love for Serenity on that confidence.

"When do you plan to ask her?" It was more of a business oriented question that Endymion frowned at. Not that he expected much else from the Ice King himself.

"I don't know yet, I don't want to be too hasty since we've only just broken ground with Queen Serenity. I don't want to push my luck." Endymion smirked, noting the light was beginning to fade and they needed to get to the ballroom. "We ready? The party awaits and we are the guests of honor." Kunzite inwardly groaned. Social events were far from his cup of tea.

They arrived in their typical formation. Endymion in the front flanked by Kunzite on the right, and Zoisite on the left in the other Generals absences. They were formally announced by Artemis in some typical and superficial royal ceremony, as was the same in all royal courts really. Boring and ostentatious, but as usual he played the part with complete stoic grace. Kunzite noticed right away how much more beautiful the people packed into the wide ballroom were in comparison to Earth, a mixture of flush faced whispers amongst the men and women, as well as open disdain. Thankfully he saw mostly fascination, strange to think many of these beings had never seen an Earthen born being before. Like they were anything special in comparison.

Kunzite's skin positively hummed and crawled with a chaotic combination of power which radiated off of old Gods and varying Goddess blessed beings gathered like old friends at a very long table at the head of the room. It took all they had to not tremble when they approached Queen and Princess Serenity at the center for introductions, which were enthusiastically offered by the glittering Silver Queen and received with false acceptance or indifference by many of the others. Kunzite swallowed hard when Aphrodite offered her very warm welcome, and remembered that Terrans would have trouble truly seeing her, as love took many forms, and beauty was in the eye of the beholder. She would look different to each of them.

Aphrodite gushed over them, warm and bubbly and exactly like her daughter without that battle worn edge to her and he decided they looked almost exactly the same. Kunzite didn't miss the scorn on Are's face behind her. A huge, muscular man with long, braided black hair and intense, deep violet eyes. He knew where Mars inherited her glare from without a doubt. He looked dangerous, primitive, and tribal as Kunzite suspected a God of War might look, aside from the fine silk robes he wore that looked otherwise out of place. Endymion didn't flinch, accepting the kindness where he could get it and proving all the more regal as he ignored the less than accepting reactions to their presence and simply pretended they belonged there.

Kunzite found himself oddly alone suddenly, Endymion charming the Queen for permission to dance with the Princess, like he planned on dancing with anyone else. Zoisite instantly latched onto the Mercurian girl, both beaming at the other as they whisked onto the dance floor with an awkward sort of grace. He reminded himself again to discuss their relationship with Princess Serenity's guard with his men. Kunzite almost laughed at the hypocrisy of the thought based solely on the havoc the leader of the Senshi had been wreaking on him, mind and body, for weeks. It didn't change the fact that Zoi could have easily had his pick of any other woman in that ballroom, and still saw fit to dance away with one of Serenity's very forbidden guard.

Golden opulence filled the room in their honor, from the candlesticks and place settings to the lighting itself that made the cobalt blue skylights pop against the warmth. Kunzite had always heard rumors of the grand parties that Queen Serenity threw with any excuse she could find, and it certainly put any event held in Elysium to shame. He found he preferred those however, Kunzite often did not attend Earthen ceremony as anything but added security granting him little to no social obligation. He made his way to the refreshment area, pretending he didn't see the many women batting lashes at him or giving coy smiles as he passed. He'd need a drink or two before he could will himself to partake in mindless chatter after the intimidation of coming face to face with actual Gods and Goddesses, brief as the interaction was, it still didn't feel real.

Elated with the familiarity of the bourbon he ordered, Kunzite turned with a small drink in search of a quiet table or wall where he might be able to sit back and merely observe. His lips quirked in his customary frown while his grey stare drifted over the nearby crowd. Had it been any other occasion, Kunzite might have tried to charm and entice one of these women to his bed later. It was only then, surrounded by the most beautiful beings in the Galaxy that he realized how much things had changed.

Jadeite of all people had confessed over too many drinks that no matter the number of women, or how beautiful they were that it just wasn't enough anymore. It sounded so simple to the average person to settle down, and embrace the throes of love for what it was, but Kunzite had long sworn off of that without taking into consideration what that would mean for his life. Intimacy, or lust, was the only area of his life he didn't value, or seek some profound meaning from being a primal human need and nothing more. It was an area of his life that recently became something of a slow torment to him, a puzzle he couldn't solve.

A flash of red kept popping up in the corner of his eye, which he ignored until now because he only assumed it would be the Martian as red was her color and she was said to be a brilliant dancer. However, Kunzite saw Mars just a few tables down speaking with Jupiter over some food and wine just by the ballroom stairs. She wore a deep violet gown, the only red in her attire coming from the garnet jewels she wore that made her look so classic and elegant. He took a slow drink, confusion on his brow as his eyes shifted toward the dance floor for in search of the source of that offensive shade of red.

He'd almost spit the drink out in reflex, opting to nearly choke as he drank down the entire glass a bit too quickly instead. He tore his eyes away, making a desperate turn back to the bartender for a second drink before that pleasant burn down his throat had even subsided from the first. Kunzite met her eyes a very brief moment when he turned back toward the crowd as she and her dance partner spun by. There was the makings of mischief on her lips, a gleam in her gorgeous eyes that made him have to fight the urge to down this drink in the same manner as the first. He found a spot by the wall not far from the haven of the bartender to lean, taking a more dignified sip as he was forced to only watch her from afar.

It was as though Kunzite was seeing her for the first time, all over again. His airflow restricted at her every graceful movement under the golden lights that she didn't defy for once. She was so brilliant had she not worn that bright red gown she might have blended into them entirely. Her hair was pinned and piled, draping elegantly down her back in soft, brilliantly gold curls. Her full lips like velvet, stained the same sinful red shade as her dress, and eyes emphasized by darkened liner and thick black lashes that did miracles to bring out the vibrant blues and greens. The gown in question was the most vibrant red satin, corseted tightly around her small waist, swelling her chest against the restraint, and further emphasizing her hourglass figure with perfection he would have denied if he weren't seeing it now. As always, she seemed determined to stand out against the muted and pastel colors of this planet, and it was doing horrible, terrifying things to the General.

Kunzite placed his somehow empty glass on the table nearby. He hadn't remembered drinking it already, but the manner he gripped it in his palm, it was likely to shatter. Something had broken inside of him, gripping his heart in a manner that was unfamiliar and terrifying. All he knew was that she was without a doubt the most beautiful sight he'd ever seen, or ever would see for the rest of his days. She danced with a member of Martian royalty, which he found fitting as Love and War were often considered quite the same, even if Kunzite couldn't have been convinced. Of course he'd been to war, never in love. Certainly never jealous.

Endymion caught his eye as he always seemed to without trying, as though they were linked by the mind somehow. The entire ballroom was enthralled, watching as he so elegantly danced with the Princess who, despite her obvious clumsiness, was as graceful as he was. Kunzite felt a little nervous with so many eyes on a romance so forbidden, all bearing witness to the deepest of loves, one he dared to think even surpassed that of his King and late Queen. A kind of love he'd never understand, and be less likely to touch. The adoration in their eyes as they spoke, the passionate and protective manner Endymion held the young Princess went unhidden and noticed by even him. Perhaps because he knew what to look for.

Kunzite took a deep breath, thinking perhaps he had been away from Elysium for too long, notions of how it might feel to seen the way Serenity saw Endymion, and the way he clearly saw her were unwelcome to him, and hadn't he just looked at the Venusian this way? His mouth went hard, tearing his eyes to the windows in anger at the betraying thought. His Prince caught his stare once more as though he commanded it, nodding toward the crowd in suggestion that he should dance, or at least pretend to enjoy himself. Kunzite didn't know how. He was fierce on the battlefield, an attentive teacher, a diplomat, and economic strategist- Not a socialite. He raised his empty glass to Endymion in toast, offering what he could of a small smile in response. Before he turned back to the bartender for round three.

By the time he glanced over the room again, Venus had joined Mars and Jupiter's table, joined by Mercury and Zoisite who were all seemingly enjoying a joke at the Martian's expense. Kunzite knew he did no favors to their purpose by being a wallflower, knowing he should dance and at least pretend to have a good time, but it was as though there were no other women in the room. He saw red, and not his typical kind of angry red but something all too ethereal, like a thread the shade of her gown simply tugging at him, pulling him into her. Kunzite simply took another drink, setting his fierce grey eyes forward, and began his way across the ballroom with his typical authoritative and confident stride.

Her back was to him when he approached, a vision of perfect golden curls, red satin, and laughter that further suggested the wild chaos of her nature he found so enticing. Kunzite bowed at the hip, bringing his lips close enough to her ear that the scent of honeysuckle clouded what was left of his judgement, her back going tense and rigid under his fingers. He inhaled the sensual musk of her skin, that familiar floral-citrus smell that reminded him why oranges were considered an Aphrodisiac in certain regions of Earth. On her skin, they were sinful.

"Lady Venus, I believe you owe me a dance." Kunzite kept his voice low, and with a steadiness he didn't think he could muster under the clouded haze of bourbon and something entirely natural and suggestive in its own right. She turned slowly as he stood up straight, something flirtatious glinting back at him in her vividly blue eyes that matched the playful quirk of her lips. Knowing looks were exchanged behind regarding the rather intimate way he approached their leader that Kunzite didn't care to acknowledge. Mercury had the courtesy to blush for all of them though, and Zoisite simply grinned from ear to ear at her side. He understood that while Kunzite was no socialite, when it counted, he had charm in spades.

"I believe you are right Commander." Venus extended her hand, gloriously free of gloves unlike himself, and instead of pulling her to the dance floor, he brought the offered hand to his lips for another borderline scandalous kiss to her knuckle that left his lips tingling and heart pounding from the thrill. He pulled her gently to his side, wrapping her arm around his own so her hand rest at his forearm while they walked the few short steps to the dance floor. Kunzite gazed down into the bottomless blue depths of her eyes, her own stare admiring of him, and he couldn't have looked away if he wanted to.

He tried to bear in mind the strong propriety to be maintained based solely on the parties present in the room when he gathered her to his chest. Yet the careful hand he rest at her hip fit so perfectly in to the curve, her small waist perfect against his palm, almost as perfect as the hand he held as though it belonged in his. Kunzite held her like a gentleman might, and they began to dance in tandem with the rest of the room. He didn't dance much, thankful that some things were committed to memory, or his partner was just that graceful.

"They suit you." Her voice broke him from his reverie, reality in the moment far sweeter than any memory he could conjure. Her eyes were fixed on the stones on his cape allowing Kunzite the moment to truly see her so close that her beauty made him ache in its surreal perfection. It was enough for him to ponder her name, and how much that name suited her. Her breath caught audibly as his hand slid to the small of her back to urge her closer to him, prying eyes be damned. He lowered his face to her ear again, some of the soft gold curls brushing his cheek, and his lips brushed her earlobe as he issued her his gratitude.

"And I thank you... Mina." Her gasp at hearing her name was strangled, a sound he wouldn't soon forget as a desperate and wanting sound, her fingers tensing into his shoulder trembling. Kunzite wondered when she'd last heard her own name, feeding into his own desire, something burning his blood much like the alcohol, only far more potent. He spun her away, part of the dance and a few seconds relief from the heat seeming to build up around them, pulling her back to his chest with a grace he'd forgotten he had. That heat returned when he pulled Mina back toward him, a reflected want in her, dangerous enough to fully distract him. A sentiment shared as she pressed herself against him as close as she could manage.

"We should be cautious. Surely you've noticed the pairings forming amongst our ranks." Breathy as her voice was, there was warning in it for certain. A cold reminder of the state of things, still forbidden and all the more appealing. Yet it confused him as he twirled her again, dancing on autopilot with perfect precision. Kunzite had long rationalized said pairings on coincidence, a product of a preplanned schedule of night watches that happened to place them in each other's paths. Yet as he gazed at her, the sad longing in her blue eyes as she observed Zoisite with Mercury told him perhaps there was more to it. "You may blame Serenity... or perhaps fate is to blame in this instance."

"Do you know something I don't?" His brow quirked, spying Endymion over her head and offering a nod in his direction. "Aside from the obvious pairing that is." Venus bit her lip in that utterly distracting manner and he almost got himself executed by ravaging her like the barbarian they all assumed they were. The way her oceanic blue eyes drifted to his mouth and studied his face with undivided attention helped absolutely nothing. The urge to kiss her hadn't ever been stronger, to taste the chaos she embodied and maybe lose himself to it. Somehow he trusted her more than anyone not born of his own world, and knew he shouldn't, couldn't allow himself to let his resolve slip away from him. Tragic really because her full lips were so very inviting.

"Fate has been cruel enough to link those forbidden to each other together as soulmates." Her stare crashed back into his with intent. It was a deeply concerning notion, and there were only so many possibilities within their ranks she could have been referring to. He wasn't one to argue with anyone on matters of the heart, it wasn't his place. Kunzite knew of Jadeite's run-in with Mars, Nephrite's infatuation with the Jovian. He perhaps wasn't exactly in tune with romantic ideals, but couldn't deny that it would be the cruelest of fates to be forbidden to the other half of your own soul. Even young Zoisite wasn't impervious it seemed, the young man often wound so tight that his carefree behavior that very moment seemed like actions of a man Kunzite didn't know.

Kunzite offered her a sincere smile as her wide eyes met his, not seeing anything but her. Everything else failed to matter in that moment, boldly slipping his hand to the bare skin of her back beneath the thick veil of her curls. He cursed his gloves of course, relishing in the heat she provided through the fabric. Mina very affectionately gazed up at him, her thumb lightly grazing the heel of his palm, but there was sadness and longing in that affection as her wandering stare studiously drifted over his features.

"For once...I wasn't talking about them." She whispered softly as though the vague words might have meaning to someone else. The silent understanding between them intensified, bringing meaning behind her previous words that did little to sway how she tormented him blissfully enough that he never wanted to let go. Never wanted to look at another woman, and his stomach bottomed out at the realization that this was a losing battle. Kunzite appeared all too eager to fall prey to its madness when he should have been fighting it, and Gods knew he had to find the strength. "Take off your gloves..."

He stared at her shocked a moment, more so when she nearly paused on the dance floor to take his hand in hers, eagerly pulling at the middle finger on the glove he'd used to cradle her chin. Kunzite glanced nervously around while Mina stripped his hand, and part of the resolve he'd been so eager to re-gain while he struggled to shove his now loose glove into the pocket of his slacks. With grace he wasn't sure how she managed, she stole control long enough to twirl herself away from him, laughing as she curled back into his arm until her back met his chest while she pulled the second glove away with ease.

It was that playful laugh, the mischievous gleam in her eye that did him in. If he wasn't enthralled before, he certainly was smitten now. Mina had peeled back his armor in the same fashion she peeled off his gloves, left to feel naked under her own adoring stare. He offered a disbelieving shake of his head, the grin plastered across his lips a symptom of her, a tribute to her mischievous antics. Mina shifted gracefully in his arms again, locking eyes when she pressed into him leaving Kunzite to the mercy of her magic that permeated into his palm when she took his hand again. It was an addicting hum, one he relished as he slipped his hand beneath the haven of her thick hair to actually feel the warm, soft skin of her back against his fingers, a dangerous addiction indeed.

"Better?" Kunzite mused, thankfully lost in a sea of waltzing couples as he pulled Mina nearly flush to him with the bold hand at her back. He did notice her eyes shift to their joined hands, no doubt spying the familiar gold ring adorning his smallest finger. He wasn't sure when he'd decided to wear it, perhaps a drunken night where he'd gotten too sentimental, or a cheap ploy to feel closer to her, though Kunzite had in fact intended on giving it back- he just never did. Mina seemed unphased really, even appreciating a moment before she seemed to melt into him with an unspoken, very dangerous longing he thought he might choke on.

"Better..." She whispered distractedly, seeming to understand the sentiment of the warring emotion in his grey stare and opting to watch his lips instead. Kunzite ran his fingers lightly along her spine, unsure by now how many songs they'd danced to or how long he'd become lost in her lapis lazuli eyes or distracted by the velvet red rose petals that had formed her lips. Mina embodied all things beautiful, and commanded everything around her to bend to it with such vibrant sincerity and warmth, and how could he fight that? Simultaneously she was wild, and erotic, someone the most powerful beings in their system had tried, and failed to forge and control. And how could he ignore now just how right she felt, nestled against his chest, the deliciously torturous movements of her hips skilled against his own, the finely carved curves of her body under his hands and molded to his own so perfectly as they danced too close to be acceptable.

The tempo shifted, completely throwing off his step when it appeared that Mina had gained some modicum of reality of how intimate the moment had become. She stole the lead with such grace, her hip bumping his to snap him out of it as she moved for appropriately for the more upbeat song so Kunzite could catch up. He was no fool, knowing they were limited to tonight, needing to hide behind stoic masks and false professionalisms we was all too aware would fall back into place as soon as this trip was over.

If only for tonight, he would touch her boldly, laugh with her playfully and dance as though Old Gods didn't sneer at their display distastefully from across the room. Kunzite was only too glad to drink in the thrill of her chaos that hummed into his palms and commanded her whims without words. She'd stolen control as she always did and for once Kunzite sought no ulterior motive, only that she simply did so without trying, but he wasn't willing to be dominated so easily. She might have won their sparring that afternoon, but tonight would be his victory.

It was the second time they'd spar that day, Kunzite more than eager to oblige despite how distracting the feel of her skin, like velvet to his touch became. They fought for control, drawing far more attention to themselves than desired with earned looks of both scrutiny and admiration. Mina laughed, the most lighthearted and musical laughter he'd ever heard when Kunzite dipped her low to immediately steal back that control. There was a deviance to their smiles, a darkness to their eyes when he pulled her back to his chest something magnetic that hung in the air with every wanton roll of hips into each other. Her parted red lips sensual but smirking as though she knew the absolute havok she brought to him.

The entire song dissolved into heat with each desperate grip of hands or brushes of skin. A graceful spin, a hidden kiss to the wrist of the hand he held before he'd spin her away. A heat that had even Mina hesitating it seemed, searching for someone that might rescue her from the fire she'd poured into Kunzite's veins that only served him to pull her back to his chest with a more aggressive yank. She was close enough that their breath mingled when their eyes met, as though all that denial and resistance threatened to break in that very instance. He dipped her low again, his lips strategically brushing her shoulder under the cover of the curtain of his silver hair creating goosebumps along her arms, a barely audible gasp as the violins strung the final chords of the song.

Kunzite got goosebumps himself when he pulled her against him again, all gold and crimson against his tones of silver. Her eyes danced between his, mere inches between their lips, her every breath that puffed against his only further testing his usually solid restraint. The crowd bursting into applause, mostly for the band and some for their bold display of silver and gold. It was enough that Venus so hurriedly broke herself from his arms, placing some much needed space between them.

A slower, romantic melody drifted over the dying acclamations of the crowd, leaving the pair forgotten as lovers eagerly danced around them with promise of being close enough to steal kisses or amorous touches. It was usually the point in the night Kunzite would have perhaps enticed a woman to his bed, or proceed to get drunk enough that he would depart for sleep. He felt fumbling at how different this was, and as he watched her watery eyes drift panicked over the crowd he wondered if he offended her, or if that ever present sadness was simply beginning to make sense to him.

"Would you like a drink?" He breathed, swallowing the dry lump in his throat hard. He wanted to be near her, needed to understand why that want was stronger so he could learn how to fight it. Her blue eyes shifted to his, wide and afraid really but she nodded with a thick exhale between her lips.

"I need air." Her voice had gone flat, and he offered his arm regardless because a gentleman would in this instance. Venus brushed passed him, ignoring the gesture entirely. Kunzite found he should have been grateful instead of the odd sensation that his pride had just been stepped on. A deep breath and quick hand through his hair to smooth it simmered the bit of his temper that had surfaced from the foreign feelings this girl seemed to pull from him before he could react.

Kunzite approached directly as the bartender handed her a flute of light golden mead, nodding to him directly to prepare a bourbon. As to not scare Venus, he brushed her arm with a hand to let her know he'd approached behind her. A proper gesture really so she didn't turn too quickly and be startled enough to spill her drink, but her muscles only tensed at the touch, turning to eye him over her glass.

He shifted his eyes toward the balcony, her expressed need for air was a mutual interest and Kunzite had questions, about a thousand of them at this point. So he offered the discrete gesture of his eyes a small well placed nod as he took a drink from his own glass as an ask for Venus to join him. Once more she didn't acknowledge the motion, she simply gathered skirts in her free hand and turned with a casual stride toward the balcony doors. He tried not to let her dismissiveness flare his temper as he followed from a distance toward the doors to the outer terrace, a familiar one they'd met on the previous night.

"Mina..." He still spoke in a hushed tone in case anyone else was present but the area was suspiciously void of anyone else. Chalking it up to nerves when he got the sensation that they were watched, knowing those Old Gods who watched Earth since the dawn of time, were merely just inside the ballroom. Kunzite peered hard into her eyes, looking for any sense that he'd offended her and only found sadness, and longing in her otherwise strong blue eyes.

"Why do you have my ring?" She licked her lips distractingly, her eyes flickering down to his right hand where the band rest around his pinky.

"Because it is yours." He offered, stepping forward to set his glass down on the stone railing, freeing his left hand to remove it. "It is engraved with emblems of the Venusian Kingdom, a suspicious trinket to be left on Earth in tribute to one of our kind. I thought you might like to have it back."

"No..." She replied thoughtfully, eyeing the gold band extended in Kunzite's fingers. "I don't like to retract such offerings. If you are Knighted under my Mother it is only fitting I suppose." She leaned against the railing, eyes drifting up toward the stars in thought. Kunzite slipped he ring back onto his finger, entranced by the fine line of her long pale neck as she lifted her chin to the sky.

"You shower me with such gifts...I'm afraid I have nothing to offer in return." This caused her lips to quick in a dreamy sad smile, her eyes meeting his when she gazed back at him over her shoulder.

"I would say that a kiss was a worthy offering, but I fear you might insult me with your restraint." His heart leaped into his throat, eyes widening that Venus might suggest such a thing. Not that he hadn't thought about it several thousand times in the mere short time of his visit to the Moon, or that he could think of her as anyone but Mina. She giggled playfully, shaking her head with a longer draw from her glass. "This song always was my favorite..."

"We could keep dancing.." Kunzite stepped toward her placing a hand on her waist to pull her closer.

"Stop that." She didn't pull away, only rolled her eyes with a small betraying smile, placing her hands appropriately at his chest and arm while he began to sway them just slightly to the melody.

"Dancing?" He mused, though amusement wouldn't reach more than the quirk of his brow, relieved that her indifference appeared to be staged.

"Being charming. You're quite the dancer you know." This made him chuckle lightly in his throat, pulling her closer while they swayed gently to the soft melodic song that drifted out to them from the ballroom.

"When you've fought one battle you've fought them all I suppose." Kunzite remarked, a knowing smile spreading to her lips, the gold of her eyes always giving her a glint to her eyes that seemed like mischief.

"Dancing is hardly a battle Gener-" Kunzite lifted a finger to her lips, silencing the formality. He'd always hated formalities, and what a thing it would be to hear his name on her lips. Now that he knew hers, what he thought would be sated curiosity, had blossomed into something more like infatuation on a scale he hadn't experienced in such a short time. Her red stain felt like velvet, not transferring to his finger when it ran slowly along the length of her bottom lip.

"Kunzite. My name is Kunzite." He reminded her quietly, running that same finger down her chin, making a slow descent down the long column of her throat. His thumb brushed her cheek, carefully hooking his fingers on her neck beneath her jaw. "And the way you dance, you could have fooled me."

"Kunzite..." She breathed in a way that clenched his insides, unnoticing that they'd stopped dancing entirely. Mina shivered in his arms, her fingers tracing lightly over the fine embroidery at his chest, her eyes boring lustily into his own. She tore her gaze away suddenly, pain pinching her eyes and he swore he saw tears.

"Have I offended you?" He leaned forward some, enveloping her further into him until his forehead almost rest at the top of hers. Kunzite knew she'd not want him to see her emotions, the way they dropped from her long lashes. As a fellow soldier he might have seen them as weakness, but he only wanted to soothe them. He thought he could, if she could only just stay in his arms, he could make it better. He swallowed hard, anger replacing everything because in truth he couldn't. He could never be anything of substance to her without paying the cost of his life.

"I wish you had." She whispered shakily, her watery eyes drifted over his features slowly, pushing him away with a backward step out of his arms. Kunzite knew she'd not want him to see her emotions, the way they dropped from her long lashes. As a fellow soldier he might have seen them as weakness, but he only wanted to soothe them. He thought he could, if she could only just stay in his arms, he could make it better. He swallowed hard, anger replacing everything because in truth he couldn't. He could never be anything of substance to her without paying the cost of his life. "Gods why must everything be a fight?"

"If it's any consolation... you've offended me for weeks." His voice grew stern under the admission, taking an impassioned step forward to reach for her, Mina only took another step out of range.

"Those weeks have been a dangerous dance." She sounded near hysterical, body tensed like she might run down the flight of stairs just behind her. Kunzite was prepared to run after her, easily seeing how she tried and failed to contain the emotions in her wide blue eyes.

It made the anger in him intensify, the urge to storm into that ballroom and shout curses at those Old Gods. Their blind stupidity the reason Endymion had to dance around his love for Serenity, the reason he couldn't just simply kiss the woman in front of him to even see if there was something more between them. Gods even he knew there was, he'd wanted to deny it but his own resolve was worn so thin by this point Kunzite almost knew there was no point. He'd fight this, because he had to. There was no other choice.

"A dangerous dance indeed." He spoke darkly. Short and curt.

"Why can't we just..." Venus began to speak, gazing down toward the lawn and gardens below them. His jaw clenched tighter, nearly ashamed that his hands were shaking with rage and he was glad she didn't notice because she wouldn't even look at him.

"Why can't we what?" He bit out harder than intended, frowning the way he hadn't all night. The one that usually had his soldiers scattering in fear.

"Nothing Gener-"

"Kunzite." He corrected, voice like ice and fire at once. He swore he might do something damning. Venusian nature had become a bit clearer to him after speaking with her. Touch, and the way she'd wanted his gloves off, she was clearly in pain. Her earlier jab about kissing and how she expressed it was so important to her people. Sacred in ways he'd never known a kiss to be, it truly only made him ache for it more. But her own eyes iced over, hardened when they looked back at him and Venus seemed to regain her composure.

"Forget it. Thank you for the dance, I hope you can forgive my offenses." She lifted her chin, turning on her heel to leave. Perhaps he panicked, or the anger fueled him forward when he grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him and his arms enveloped her. Kunzite felt the need to protect this girl, from the weight of her duties, the pains she felt that he somehow knew involved him. He knew he would ultimately hurt her as he clenched his eyes shut, resting his forehead to hers. She could never belong to him, and he could never offer himself to her. She trembled, and he could feel her breath puff against his lips, wondering what it was about his touch that affected her so.

"Gods we have to stop this dance of ours..." He whispered, his nose brushed hers, parted lips so dangerously close to her own. He wondered if the ache he felt, the one pulling him into her was what a Venusian felt, forbidden and beautiful he refrained from simply devouring her. Kunzite had no right to know her lips or any piece of her by God's law, but he knew enough.

"I don't know how..." His eyes fluttered open to her beautiful longing eyes, feeling that soft touch of her fingers against his jaw, trailing and enticing him to close that gap, and end this suffering.

"I am bewitched by you, magic or no.." He muttered softly against her slightly parted lips, finally pressing them to hers lightly. She responded with a firmer kiss that took his breath away, made him desperate and he exhaled deeply, seeming to breathe for the first time in his life. She became his air, something strange taking over him on a spiritual level he couldn't explain but the third time she pressed her perfect lips so eagerly against his he swore every inch of his skin tingled. He felt everything at once, stronger than he'd ever felt it, unsure if he could call the ache blissful, but those things he felt were only just less consuming than her her lips so soft and perfect against his own. Seeking to drown, their lips both parted in favor of tasting the other further with that fourth press of their lips, and he found himself parted from her all too quickly before he could delve deeper into her.

Heart pounding and breathless, they both began taking in their surroundings, frantically ensuring they hadn't been seen. Not that he'd been in his right mind to begin with but his grey stare peered down toward the lawn in the shadows thinking something pale shifted amongst the moondust, swearing he felt eyes on them. Seeing no one, he resigned to believe it as some after effect from the absolute havoc working its way through his veins in that moment, each breath like fire. It lasted no longer than a minute which was a minute too long, the shortest Hell he'd ever experienced because it wasn't nearly enough.

"That shouldn't have happened..." Venus whispered, her voice shaky and restrained in a way he'd never heard her speak before. Everything in him told him to gather her into his arms, pull her behind the doors of the balcony where they'd remain concealed, and kiss her until there wasn't breath left in his body. Kunzite found himself left with rattled nerves, his lips flavored by oranges and every cell in his body going haywire and exploding with every wanting instinct he could think of. But Venus was right, and so he nodded. It shouldn't have happened, yet it was only now that he could accept that he'd wanted to kiss her since she'd shared an apple with him, their beginnings when both refused to trust and everything was so undecided. It was clear that with the first brush of their lips, something HAD been decided and Kunzite had yet to decipher it as a good thing. "We should get back..." Her voice was strained, sad as though she were fighting back tears and he was in torment that he may have caused them. He almost said something but she interrupted the moment. "I'll go in first, I'm going for one more dance then come in after me."

She smiled then. It was a brilliant and seemingly genuine smile that only he could knew would not reach her eyes. It was a beautifully placed lie, that smile, and she was gone in a graceful sweep of crimson skirts. Kunzite exhaled slowly, his lips still on fire, body aching and confused. He wished he was home, at his desk instead of here where temptations ran high and he so easily lost his will to a strategically worn red gown and crimson lips. Where beauty itself released its wrath upon his nerves by the girl who refused to blend in. Kunzite headed down to the lawn where he'd sworn someone had stood earlier, sweeping the area he returned to the balcony to retrieve his glass when he was satisfied no one was there.

The song lasted an eternity. Kunzite was set to go back inside and drink himself into a stupor, eager to rush through the next day so that he could rush home to find a woman to sate this torment as though he could erase that kiss. Immediately he began to rationalize, and it all started to come up short. Now that he had tasted her lips, who would measure up? Any other woman certainly wouldn't be as kind, or as witty, or even flirt the way she did that so sensually stroked his ego. Venus was a warrior, a diplomat, a Princess, an all powerful symbol of love and martyr for the same emotion. But Mina was merely a girl with a selfless heart, a thirst for love, and a free spirit that was so caged like a sad blue bird by the chain Venus wore around her waist. Kunzite rubbed his eyes harshly. He didn't love this girl. Perhaps he only pitied her. It had to be anything but love.

As instructed, Kunzite re-entered the ballroom at the last note of the song with intent to make haste back to the bartender. He caught her eyes almost immediately, as though the room wasn't packed with otherworldly beings, his eyes found hers alone. Venus ignored the Lunar guard she danced with, the strain on her face so clear to him until something in her eyes broke, and she briskly walked away. Every inch of him wanted to follow her, longed to painfully, yet Kunzite refrained no matter how badly he wanted to apologize and make sure she was okay. By the time he'd gotten another drink, he glimpsed her one last time. The light created a strange red flare in the considerable space between them, and he frowned to himself. She charmed the crowd around her Queen with that misplaced lie on her crimson lips before she walked so briskly from the room which grew much darker without her in it. Kunzite only hoped they brought enough bourbon.

He was angry, mostly at himself for seeming to offend her without having the chance to apologize. Seeking that kind of attention from a Goddess was certainly an errand he knew better than to pursue. The attraction between them hadn't been unknown, just unspoken, and unacted upon until now. Both knew better, both agreed to have the other's back, to have the backs of their soldiers, their Prince and Princess, and that meant not falling victim to the same relations as their guard. All an unspoken agreement, that Kunzite had just broken.

He lost track of how much he'd drank by the end of the night. He remembered Endymion cutting him off before he got sloppy and tried to start a fight, or worse flirted with the wrong woman and ruining their impression for the Queen. Not that even by this state he was in any mood to charm anyone. He was content to sit at a table, sipping water and admiring the intricate designs and stone work of the palace that he'd merely glanced over before. Princess Serenity forced him to dance with her, only so the Queen didn't see how Endymion kept her to himself all evening. He'd had worse times, though it didn't improve his mood much. The Princess was a graceful dancer, her explanation that it was Venus to teach her stung in the worst of ways, putting him off from dancing the rest of the night.

Zoisite came to sit with him like a good friend, ruining the good intention by speaking about her and their spectacle that evening. Normally he could have evaded the questions and silly admirations from Zoi- but drunk and miserable as he currently was, the anger was quick to flare.

"You two were striking together." He got that dreamy look in his green eyes, leaning on the table with his head in his hand while he mindlessly twirled one of the curls of his mussed ponytail around a finger. Kunzite frowned with the laziest shift of his eyes in the young King's direction.

"Not another word." He bit with venom in his voice, taking another drink of water. There was already a dull ache forming behind his eyes and a vicious urge to knock the frown and concern from Zoi's face. An endearing sentiment, one that grated Kunzite to the quick rather fast.

"I wasn't the only one that thought so..." Zoi muttered, not shrinking under Kunzite's icy stare. "You guys clash, she's all gold and you're all silver. When you guys were dancing it was a pretty remarkable sight. It's rare you let loose like that, the chemistry was-"

"ENOUGH!" He barked, Endymion turning to see what the hell had Kunzite so riled.

"Kunzite... it's our last night here let's not make a scene. Zoi-" Endymion gave the younger man a good natured slap upside the head. "Stop antagonizing him. He's had a lot to drink, and you know that temper."

Kunzite was about to lose that temper. He'd taken a few deep breaths, his chair scraping behind him when he stood abruptly to bid goodnight to the Queen. Bowing with gracious thanks for her hospitality as sincerely as he could muster, playing the diplomat just long enough to excuse him from the near empty ballroom. Nearly everyone else had relocated outside for fireworks on the main lawn, and Kunzite took it as the perfect opportunity to slink away.

A cold shower seemed to help sober him some, even ease the quick temper but it did not wash her lips from his memory, the sweet flavor of honey and oranges mingling with all the bourbon he'd drank to try and rid himself of her taste. Kunzite climbed on his bed, after making sure the door was bolted tight of course so when Endymion came to scold him, and he knew he would, he wouldn't be able to get in. He was going to use the excuse that he'd passed out- which didn't become an excuse because the soft pillowy comforter of his bed cradled his large frame and fused with the drunken haze of his mind to lull Kunzite into a deep, dream ridden sleep.


End file.
